A Reader in the Stars
by Mei Neko
Summary: She found herself alone and in another universe. Now she's learning to live to be independent. She learned to make friends and create a new family. She just needs to learn to accept that this is her future now.
1. Chapter 1: Waking Up

Hello! This is my first Star Trek and Firefly crossover fic and probably my only one. Just to warn you all, this fic is going to be based on the Star Trek 2009 and the Firefly is after the BDM. The setting of the fic is going to be couple years before the launch of the USS Enterprise to the five year voyage.

A Reader in the Stars

By Mei Neko

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Chapter One: Waking up

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She did not wake up right away. After the loud bang and the bright light, her eyes stayed closed. She could not hear anything afterwards. No brother screaming her name and an absence of cursing from the crude man ape. There was no thoughts intruding into her mind that belong to the man that she considered to be a father nor the panic prays that she knew would have come from the beautiful woman who had finally found her place in life.

Her body shivered from a chill that could be from the emptiness of mind or from the temperature of the surroundings. She stayed motionless, her mind trying to comprehend the situation. Equations and scenarios raced until she finally calmed herself. She came at of stop of two conclusions.

One, she was alone and two, she was currently alive.

Her eyelids felt heavy as if she had been drugged with the newest variation of sedatives that her brother shot her with in the earlier days of their fugitive phase. A thought crossed her mind that maybe she was drugged but it was dismissed. She knew what being drugged felt like after years of imprisonment- physically and mentally.

At first, she could only see a mixed of blurred colors. She could comprehend that what she saw was greens, blues, blacks, browns, and whites. Slowly, her eyes adjusted themselves to focus and with each blink, the images were clearing into trees, grass, woods, sky, and clouds.

Shock, she realized, had affected her it was dissipating from her body as her ears received murmurs, thoughts began to buzz into her mind, and feeling began to tingle onto her skin. In an instant, she shot up from her prone position and began to frantically view her surroundings.

Trees. Flowers. Sky. Clouds. Benches. Fountains.

A park, she realized, it was a park. How in 'verse did she get from her homey, run down, ship in the Black to this shinny bit of a planet? And where was the rest of her family? Panic filled her mind and she began to hyperventilate. Rage, sorrow, and loneliness filled her heart until she felt the need to scream, hit, and even kill something to make the feelings go away.

"Civilian, your pulse and body temperature are rising. Are you in need of medical assistance?"

Turning quickly around, she looked at a human covered in a uniform that she had never seen before. Defiantly not Alliance standard. He even wore an odd mask over his head. Staring at the man for a moment she frowned in confusion. She could not sense anything from him. No thought, no emotion, no vision. Strange, he could not be a Reaver. Those gorram gosei things have thoughts that equal to the sound of a rocket booster.

…_odd girl. What kind of clothing is that?_

_-they let anyone wonder around here!_

_-wonder what she did to get the android over to her._

Android? She received an image of the human in front of her.

"No." she shook her head in denial. "NO!"

She could vaguely hear that android thing saying something but all she could think of was denying. Denying these odd words, odd images that began to press into her brain. If she could deny it all, she would wake up and see her family. Just like what her brother's love always tried to tell her to do with a nightmare. For this was a nightmare.

Someone grabbed her and she snapped. Screaming, she thrashed around, hitting and crushing anything that came near her. Soon her fight was cut off as restraints of sorts immobilized her limbs and she felt deep intruding pain in her head from a thick long needle.

***

Gasping, she shot up from her bed, sweat cooling her heated skin. It took her a few minutes to realize that she was dreaming about her past or a moment of it. Shaking, she drew up her knees to her chest and breathed deeply. The end of the dream did not concluded the same way as what had happen to her two years ago.

The android called for medical assistance while she had scream and ran in panic. A sedative was used on her and she woke up in a medical hospital setting. For a time, she thought on the situation that she was in. For the first time in a long time, she welcomed the thoughts, images, and emotions that came to her. After an hour of merging herself with thoughts that were not her own; she pulled out and came to another conclusion.

She was not in the Core system or the Outer system.

She was in another universe.

A part of her was fascinated. She used to remember how she and her brother played out war games and what they would do in the face of enemy territory. Her brother had come up the conclusion to escape once he had all the information to do so. She had decided to integrate with the enemy until she was trusted enough to have access to the highest level of security and released the dinosaurs that she insisted that effected the war.

In a situation where she was ignorant, she chooses the decision that her younger self had declared ten years ago.

When asked of her name, origin, and contact information; she plea her ignorance of everything except of a name. They had tests done to her which were unfamiliar since it did not require for her to remain still for long periods of time. There were still shots but the pain was brief compared to what she was use to. These people, she realized as they work, were good people. They were not scientist making her into a weapon or after her because she could hear their secrets. There was pity, compassion, and even humor from these people.

They reminded her of her brother and what life he should have had.

Since they determine that she was sixteen and was in need of a guardian until she scored high on a placement test that was meant to determine her state of mind. Soon she had strangers coming after her with offers that she knew her brother would have been proud of if he were here. However she could not trust anything since she could read the greed of their thoughts.

Publicity of an orphan genius and the school that took her in. Or the prestige of having a genius who match up with a Vulcan.

What was a Vulcan?

She thought back on what these schools would have offered if they ever knew about her past. They would have not taken in a fugitive wanted by a large government and risk their lives for her like her captain did. They would have killed her instead of giving her a second chance like her family did. They would have abandoned her instead of risking a future like her brother did. They would never be honest with their thoughts like man ape had always been.

It was not until a week later that a man came to her while she played with the PADD that was given to her. He had sat with her in silence watching her read through the data pad in a pace that would made anyone dizzy. Knowledge soaked into her mind as well as the thoughts of the man.

He thought her to be a tiny thing with pretty eyes. She liked that thought. Captain thought of her as a skinny thing with big eyes who could kick man ape's ass.

He thought that it was sad that she had no family and she was like many others who suffered a similar fate. Faces raced in her mind as he thought of children who suffered with no family.

He wondered if she would like to make herself into something at Starfleet.

"Starfleet Academy, circa 2161. Sited in San Francisco. From the stars, knowledge. You are a captain. You want me to join." She stated as she continue on the lesson of Vulcan culture.

She could feel his surprise at her talking about Starfleet.

"You recognize the uniform?" he asked.

"I recognized your face." She answered and pulled out a new article of the man shaking hands with another man. "You are Captain Christopher Pike. It is said that in a few years you will be captain of a new starship."

He chuckled at her.

"You've been a busy little lady."

"Why."

He looked at her in confusion for a moment before understanding what she meant.

"Why not?"

This took her away from the PADD. No one had such a philosophy similar to her captain's. But this man came close to it.

"Starfleet has many benefits for anyone who wants to explore and not just space. We have positions all over the Universe and it can be dangerous but rewarding as well." The captain pointed out.

He meant every word he said. In a way he was like man ape. Honest about what he knew and what he wanted. He wanted her to join Starfleet because he could see her rise to the top. Like that man he was thinking about.

"Go away. Need to study. Need to sleep. Need to think." She dismissed him.

He laughed at that and left her alone.

Now two years later, she was in Starfleet. Her superior mind had allowed her to soak in everything that was offered to her and she took placement test after placement test until the board acknowledges that she could not be a cadet. She could end up crushing cadet hopefuls by placing a standard that would be impossible to beat. In the end, she was promoted to commander after a year and seven months.

"Computer, time." She inquired softly.

"Time, 0545." Came the generic female computer voice.

Getting up, she went about a simple routine of cleaning and dressing in a black uniform. She ordered a breakfast of protein, fruit, and bread. This was something of her new life that she appreciated deeply. Fresh food even if it was technology made reminded her of the past she hid from her fellow commanders. She consumed the meal, thinking about how man ape would have eaten it with a hundred times less grace then a monkey.

Before she left her quarters she looked at her reflection. She could see the difference two years had made. Instead of a skinny thing with big eyes, she had grown into a young woman. She was not curvy like many of the women she thought of as family but willowy and portioned right. Her best feature were her long legs which she remembered how the male cadets often thought that they could go on for miles. Her long dark hair was pinned up in a messy yet tidy bun that gave her a causal look.

"I wish you could see me now Simon. Your mei mei is grown up now." She whispered to her reflection.

Turning away, she exit out of her room and walked out into the Starfleet campus.

"Good morning, Commander Tam!" a chorus of male voices called out. Hearing their ridiculous fantasies, she flashed a smile.

If those boys only knew that Commander River Tam knew about good mornings in a rickety old Firefly class ship, they would have pissed in their pants.

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I can tell many of you are wondering about River here. River Tam now is able to live a normal life, that does not mean she does not have trouble with her mind being opened to outside thoughts and emotions. I'm not going to make her into some super happy girl but I want her to be mature compare to how she started out in Firefly.

Please review and let me know what you think the couple should be. I already have an idea on what I want.


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting the Vulcan Boob

All right, just to warn everyone, this fic is rated M for language and other suggestive stuff. I'm not going to write a lemon, mostly because I don't know how, and because I don't want this fic to get kicked out by some prude-not that there is anything wrong with it.

wmonica – thanks for the review. Sorry if it sounded out confusing. I was trying to make it like we're all in River's head for the moment. And I'll tell you this; Kirk is not going to be her love interest however there is going to be a good relationship between the two of them. You'll be seeing a lot of Firefly elements with relationships.

A Reader in the Stars

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Chapter Two: Meeting the Vulcan Boob

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Being nearly eighteen and a commander would seem to be a huge accomplishment to any one that is human or alien. However River Tam found it to be stifling. She knew how much her fellow commanders envied and feared her abilities. Being unable to hide her psychic abilities, she had to tell the truth about them. At least she knew that they would value her instead of dissecting her brain before she took such a risk. Many were uncomfortable with the discovery however accepted her.

Although the rest of the commanders tired their best to stay away from her. She could guess that they feared that she would discover and steal their knowledge for any future projects or missions.

River was not interested in such trivial matters. If she wanted to figure out how to warp a shuttle the size of a house from Earth to the next quadrant, she would have done it. In fact she already did, however disregard in showing her findings. A shuttle would need to be built to stand warp speed first and she had no interest in making one. Kaylee would and the Captain would have demanded for one.

Smiling at her thoughts, she looked over to the next PADD of essays that she assigned for her class. Honestly, teaching Interspecies Ethics and Protocol was important work; however she wondered just how some of these cadets could even possible think about dealing with other species with crappy essays.

In dealing with a Klingon, shooting them before then get to you is not the correct answer. It was a good one, but not the correct one.

A ringing filled her ears and she looked up to see that she had a call coming in. Swiveling from her chair, she accepted the call and looked to see Captain Pike on the screen.

"Salutations and thanks, captain. What is your need?" she asked with expectations. Captain Pike was the only man she felt that was comfortable enough in her company and vice versa. He did not mind too much that she could read his thoughts and at times found her gift to be useful when he sent a silent joke to her without pissing off the headmaster or council during a meeting. While she could feel thoughts and emotions miles away at times, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact person from a distance. However her gut was telling her that Captain Pike needed her for something. Something that the other commanders would not deal with.

"Sharp as ever, commander. I need your help with a new commander."

This perked her interest. She knew something interesting was going on in the academy that a change was heading, however she did not took the trouble to uncover it.

"I was unaware that we were getting new personnel. Do you need my special abilities to uncover something?" she inquired. She hoped not. Reading a person was boring if they think such mundane thoughts. With commanders it was always about being the top dog.

"Not really. I believe that the two of you would be good teammates since both of you are similar to each other in manner and intelligence. Please meet me in the West Dining Hall in Section A at 1200. That's an order commander." Captain Pike said with a teasing smile. She nodded at that and dropped the communication.

With six more essays to go, she zipped through them with cruel comments of their lack of finesse in handling the situation and left for her lunch meeting.

***

She was beginning to gain a headache when she reached the Dining Hall. The downside of being a reader was that she could hardly ever be surprised by anything. From the cadets to the commanders and other personnel, she already knew that Captain Pike was seen walking in the same direction just minutes before with a tall male who appeared to be humanoid. There were thoughts on the male's pointy ears, his broad physic and his bowl head haircut. He looked like a nerdy version of Simon, her brother. Also from the expression she received from the images, he seemed to be a boob like Simon.

Entering the dining hall she took a quick look and headed towards the table with Captain Pike and his guest without hesitation. She saw that Captain Pike had ordered her meal from the replicator earlier and she wasted no time to reach him.

"Commander Tam. Thank you for joining us. I would like you to meet Commander Spock Grayson of the Vulcan sector. His father is Ambassador Sarek. Commander Spock, I would like you to meet Commander River Tam. She's in charge of Interspecies Ethics and Protocol. She's our youngest commander in the history of Starfleet." Captain Pike stated for the introductions.

River held her hand up in the Vulcan greeting and spoke in a steady clear voice in the alien language. Keeping her eyes to his, Commander Spock returned the greeting and she sat down. The Vulcan was handsome in an intelligent way, like Simon. In fact he was so similar to her brother that she felt like rolling her eyes at him for being so serious over a lunch. The difference was that the Vulcan was not showing any outward signs of nervousness that Simon would have done. There was no extra blink in the eyes or a tight smile that was meant to be pleasant.

The Vulcan's thoughts were interesting though. His thoughts were pretty organized about scientific facts that she knew and some she did not. It would be fun to learn everything this Vulcan has to offer without bothering him too much. She could sense curiosity about herself. He wondered about how a human so young was able to rise so high. How did the cadets feel about being taught by a commander who was technically their peer? He had many questions.

"I have amnesia. Took an aptitude test and passed it with flying colors. The cadets don't seem to mind or if they did, they kept it to themselves. The Board here at Starfleet believes that if I enter as a cadet, it would cause discord among with the rest of the cadets." She answered with a small smile. Taking a bite of her salad, she could barely detect a widening of the eyes and a shallow intake of air from her new fellow commander. Captain Pike gave a grin at the Vulcan sitting next to him.

"I forgot to mention this Spock. Commander Tam has telepathic abilities. I believe they differ to what your people are capable of."

Commander Spock took a moment to chew a bit of fruit before speaking.

"It would have benefited me to learn of this before hand, captain. I understand how tiring mind reading abilities can be to my species and I would have prepared myself from giving Commander Tam any grievances."

"Don't worry. It wouldn't have matter if you did. There are over a thousand people here and none of them can keep their thoughts to themselves. I'm use to the traffic." River assured the Vulcan remembering with bitterness on why she had to get used to it. "I understand that your species have similar abilities to mine but you need to physically touch them. I've been curious on what would happen if you attempt to do that on me."

The subject on telepathy gave them common ground. Soon it broadened to mythology between humans and Vulcans to other species. When they reached to the science of the hyper drives that are being created, Captain Pike excused himself and left the two in their conversation. He took the time to watch the two for a couple of minutes before smiling at the scene.

River Tam was lively enough if the person could hold her interest. However he had the feeling that with her telepathy, it made things difficult for her to communicate with others. He had seen how many of the cadets shy away from her and the commanders avoid her as much as possible. River was like perfection both in intelligence and in physical ability. No one could match her when it any subjects-no one that was human. Maybe the half-Vulcan who chose Starfleet then the Science Academy could reach her and vice versa.

Spock was close enough to her age and River was sociable enough to make him feel welcomed. Goodness knows that boy needs that when he puts up his curriculum for the Vulcan studies course and the xenobiology course. Those poor cadets will be dropping like flies to get out of it.

***

River found that she liked Spock. He was definitely like Simon in intelligence and manners. He was also a huge boob. Lusty thoughts of Spock kept jumping in from the female cadets who passed by with a look that would have made men feel confident in their egos. She knew man ape Jayne would have been strutting around and whistling at the more curvy ones.

Spock failed to understand why the female cadets were blinking two times the average human or why their eyes lips were rested half way. He found it illogical since good vision is important to their career in Starfleet. And why was that one licking her lips? She had adequate amount of lubricant for her lips and her saliva would not give extra protection from dryness.

River rolled her eyes at his thoughts and placed a hand on his arm. She could feel him tense at the touch but did not remove her hand.

_They think you're attractive, you boob._

Earlier, River and Spock experimented on their telepathy to each other. River found that she could access into Spock's mind easier and that she could simply concentrate on his alone when they touch. Spock, however, found that her mind was a mess of strong emotions and odd memories with no sequence. There were memories that were illogical to him and gave him pain to access. He wondered if this mess came from the amnesia that the young commander was suffering from and that her mind blocked these memories. He proposed that they should not connect for long periods of time or do a mind meld which was more intense than what they were currently experimenting. There was one positive result from their exercise.

River was able to send her thoughts to Spock when she touched the Vulcan. It was a good thing since she could communicate to him without speaking out loud and embarrass him.

She could feel him questioning the word boob and why he was one.

_It means you're a fool and I say so._

"Have you been to San Francisco before, Spock?" she asked, changing the subject. She felt his annoyance before he followed her conversation.

"As my father is the Ambassador for Vulcan, I assure you that I have been to some of the sites in the city but not all."

"Me either. I've been stuck with course work and catching up with everything about Starfleet. Discovering alone is boring. We'll need to schedule an outing between the two of us. I've heard Chinatown is interesting." River said with a smile.

"That would be acceptable. I still need to complete the syllabus for my courses and the academy has asked me to create a new stimulation for the final exam in Starfleet." Spock replied. River took the time to read his memory of the request and giggled.

_A no-win exam? One where the cadets have to experience death and failure? That's silly._

Spock gave her a look and she read his confusion on why she thought it was silly. He felt that it was logical for the academy to give the cadets a situation where they would be able to understand what they would experience in the field. Her reply to him had a cold hard edge what made him understand that she knew what death was.

_Because a simulation is nothing like the real thing. I think you should understand that concept better than anyone else._

A memory of his childhood played out and he knew what she meant. A concept that is known does not apply to all and he did know that better than anyone else.

_Quit moping you boob. Let's look over the current syllabus of your courses and see if you can use any of it. _

When Spock gave his affirmative, River felt like she was hanging out with her brother. He always did what she wanted and agreed to her superior knowledge – dinosaurs or not. Plus Simon was such a boob like Spock, only she had a feeling that Spock's love life was going to be worse than her brother's.

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I hope that you guys like this meeting between Spock and River. Did it sound like how River and Spock would have met and talk?


	3. Chapter 3: A Little of S and a Little of

Thanks for the reviews that everyone gave me. I am glad that all of you thought that River is believable in this fic. That was one of the things that scared me the most. I wanted her to be as close to the series as possible while growing.

I should probably put up a disclaimer since I forgot to do that for the past couple of chapters. The characters and most of the plot is not mine and belong to the creators and the companies who paid millions to actually make movies and the TV series. Crud, I want that money.

Just a warning, this is rated M because I'm going to have a lot of cursing and a great deal of violence in this fic. There may be suggestive sexual scenes, but no actual lemon. My main problem right now is figuring out who or even if I want to pair River up. I'm currently stuck between two choices. First choice would be intense and would provide a great deal of comic relief, however I think some of you will disagree with it considering the age difference- sort of a taste of Mal and Inara. The other would provide the fic with a sweeter romance with just as much intensity like a Zoe and Wash taste.

Tell me what you guys want, but I promise you this- the romance will not take over this fic. This fic is about River Tam and her relationships with the people of this new world and her memories of her own world.

But for right now, River is going to hang out with Spoke and Pike.

A Reader in the Stars

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Chapter Three: A Little of S and a Little of Z

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Over the next term of Starfleet, River found herself having a decent time with Spock as her partner and friend. The two stuck together whenever possible and helped each other in their respective courses. Whenever Spock had to meet with the council over his teachings (apparently several cadets protested his teachings were harsher then necessary), River helped out by grading the essays, tests, or reports so her friend would not be burdened. In turn, Spock allowed her to drag him around outside of Starfleet campus to explore.

The first time they had time together, River dragged him to Chinatown where Spock found the area to be fascinating. Over 80 percent of the population was Asian in decedent and he discovered that he enjoyed the vegetarian Chinese cuisine. The half Vulcan also discovered that his female friend was fluent in Chinese. River chattered, cursed, and questioned in the language as a native instead of a second language. He knew his friend could easily learn a language in as little as a week and could perfect the dialect in as little as an hour, however she seemed comfortable with this language as well as the common.

River kept touching his hand in answering his questions without embarrassing him in front of strangers. She understood his peeve of being ignorant of something he knew he had no control over. She began to teach him the Chinese language mentally as they continue their outing.

They stopped at a small restaurant where it consists of a three counters with burners spaced out with the chairs. River had seen from the regular customers just what sort of restaurant this place was and she felt that this would be a good place for her alien friend to try out. Sitting together, River ordered in Chinese for a regular order for herself and that her friend was strictly a vegetarian. The owner was happy to serve a pretty girl who could speak Chinese and her friend.

The restaurant that they had entered was a hot pot or Huo guo eating house. It consists of customers having a pot and cooking their own vegetables and meats on their own. There were bigger pots where a family could share at a table and the environment was comfortable.

While waiting for their meal to cook, River took the time to think about her alien friend while Spock stared at his own pot in meditative silence.

Her first impression of Spock was that he could be an alien Simon. She could see it in his intelligence, his ignorance, and his manners and this all gave her reasons to stick close to her friend. However, over the weeks, she began to see something else in Spock. Due to his Vulcan heritage, Spock spoke his mind and stood firmly to his opinion. There were times where she notice his words tend to have a double meaning or a code that only she could understand. River once attended to one of the meetings over Spock's teaching and she had to keep her face still from Spock's heavily veiled insults to the board on their lack of sense in believing that the cadets could go out into the field with such low standards.

Simon would and could not be that devious on an everyday basis. He was too honest and honorable to live in a political world like Spock had been in Vulcan and now in Starfleet. She read his memories on his choice of attending to Starfleet instead of the Science Academy in Vulcan. She knew his life during his years as a cadet. There were few that befriend him, but most were older than he and were commanders in their own right.

This alien man, River realized, was similar to Zoe. The beautiful and deadly woman who always stood beside her captain through thick and thin. Loyal and a great deal of sense was her ways of handling things. Zoe was also cold in calculating at a situation whenever necessary. River could vaguely remember times before the Miranda event that broke most of her psychosis and one of those times was when Zoe had to choose between her husband and the captain. She choose to leave the captain who had a higher chance in surviving the wait of a rescue from the rest of the crew.

"It appears that our food is ready."

River looked up from her thoughts and saw that the beef had changed from light red to a gray.

"Jing cai! Wuo men chr fuan!" she said and with quick precision, had all of the cook beef on her plate. Dipping it into the soy based sauce, she hummed in appreciation. No matter what, she could doubt that she would ever took a meal for granted. Back in her old life, fresh food was sacred out in the Black. There were months at a time where all they could eat was protein mush.

Spock gave a nod before taking out his meal from the boiling pot. He had observed how the patrons were eating their meals and could state with confidence that he knew the proper manner in eating this type of meal. River gave a delicate snort at that thought.

Her friend was a mix of Simon and Zoe. This thought comfort her and discomfort her at the same time.

***

By the end of the term, River found a routine that began to bore her. All she could do was eat, sleep, teach, exercise, spar with Spock (he was the only one who could stand to spar against her evenly), wander around, poke her nose where it was not wanted, and repeat. The only breaks of monogamy was the occasional outing that she would share with Spock. This had caused rumors among the cadets that she and Spock were dating, sleeping, or something together. She could read the thoughts of the other higher ups however none of them had confronted her or Spock of their supposed relationship.

Both of them were the best that Starfleet had to offer so far in the new generation and there was no real evidence that could prosecute them before the board.

She was in one of the many gyms currently dancing to some old music from the early 21st century. The song seems like a slow one but she could sense the beat to be moderately fast. Kicking up her legs in the air, swaying her hips, lifting her arms in an arc, to the rest of the world, River was the personification of grace and poetry in movement. She knew she was gathering an audience with the rest of the world, however she did her best to ignore it all. Dancing was the one thing that this new world did not take away from her.

"Tam to Pike."

With a leap in the air, she landed next to her comm and answered.

"Captain Pike, another favor? Computer shut off music." River commanded.

"Nothing like that. You have orders. Mission to scout out new dilithium source in the Beta quadrant. You'll be under Captain Faulken's command along with Spock. They'll be leaving for a shuttle at 0800. Get packing."

River wrinkled her nose at that. This mission was odd.

"Insufficient amount of warning, sir."

"Sorry Commander, but all I can say is that it is urgent. All the details will be sent to you once you reached your quarters. Good luck."

With that, the comm shut off leaving River to puzzle at her mission. A normal mission would have given time to prepare both the people and the ships. This sudden urgent order meant that the ship was ready but the personnel was chosen at the last minute or ordered at the last minute. Whatever it was, she had a feeling that time was at the essence. Her mind wandered until she could feel Spock's mind. She could feel her worries in his mind, but he had push it back. Right now, he was thinking about what to pack, how much time he would be out in the space, and if he should settle his plans for next term's lessons.

River sighed at his thoughts. At least she could be able to discuss her thoughts with him later.

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Sorry if this chapter is shorter then the others. I had a hard time figuring out where to stop and I felt this was the best time. Tomorrow's chapters will be longer and with more action for sure.

Jing cai! Wuo men chr fuan! - Brilliant! Let's eat dinner! (this is as close of a translation as possible.)

I found a different site than you suggested wmonica and it's really good.

http: // fireflychinese . kevinsullivansite . net / phrase . html

This site rocks for all of the Chinese that's in Firefly.

Keep reviewing and I'm going to go watch Star Trek again!


	4. Chapter 4: Overlapping Memories

Thanks for the reviews for this fic. I might put a poll for pairings, but not now. I'm still effie on the pairings. But let me tell you now, Kirk is not going to be the love interest. His relationship with River is going to be deep and I think all of you will like how it goes.

Some of you asked about River's past. Hopefully this chapter will satisfy some of your anticipation on this subject.

Disclaimer: None of the characters, over half the plot, and worlds are mine. If they were, Firefly would still be airing.

A Reader in the Stars

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Chapter Four: Overlapping Memories

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River found that she hated the ships of Starfleet or even on this gou sai of a universe. She agreed that the design was shiny and looked less bulky then some of the ships back home, but she felt nothing could beat Serenity. Many have looked down on her old design, but there was no other ship that could fly as smooth and fast as her.

Which brings her distaste on the survey ship that she was stuck in with a pilot who made his skills driving like a Reaver. At least they were now in warp and she did not have to think about her fantasies of knocking said pilot and taking over the piloting herself. Picking up her PADD, she studied the mission brief and shivered.

Something was not adding up with this mission. River scanned through the details over for the fifth time and threw the PADD on her bed. The mission was to check for dilithium crystals in the Beta quadrant in a planet cluster near the edge of known space. However, she was reading a direct course to one of the planets from the navigator's thoughts, and the captain's thoughts were confusing as well. He knew only that the source needs to be secure and that his information was received like the rest of the crew.

"Spock to Tam." She called out.

Spock answered the called with polite greetings. River quickly switched to Vulcan as she paced nervously in her room.

"None of the crew understands what is going on. The captain knows for certain which planet, but he doesn't know where he got his orders from. I don't like this." She began nervously. Spock was quiet for a moment before he answered.

"I agree that the whole process is irrational for the Federation. While dilithium is in high demand, this rash action that has us congregates as this crew is flawed in logic in terms of regulation and safety."

River pacing began to grow faster as her mind was throwing in thoughts of fear and paranoia. She could not tell if this was strictly from herself or from the rest of the people in the ship. Taking deep breaths, she tried to push those thoughts away to concentrate with her much needed conversation with Spock.

"What do you think we should do?"

"At this moment, we do not have sufficient data to abort this mission. Our best course in action would be to continue and see what will come." Spock answered seriously. River bit her bottom lip and nodded.

"All right."

They ended the call together and River flopped on the bed. She did not like this at all.

Going on a mission with a captain like Faulken made her want to vomit until she had nothing left. It was not that the man was bad, but she was use to having a captain who had a plan or something like a plan. With Captain Malcolm Reynolds, she knew what the plan was. Get the job done, shoot anyone who shoots at you, and run like hell were the actions she had lived by with Captain, Zoe, and man ape Jayne.

Curling her body into a ball, she began prayers to whatever god could hear. She began with Buddha and ended with God. She recited the prayers she had heard old man Book often thought in his head and then started cursing everything she ever heard man ape recite. For the first time in two years, River Tam was scared and helpless.

***

The planet, dubbed Alpha 12, had breathable air and a stable climate for them to transport down. She and Spock had their tricords ready to scan for dilithium crystals. The planet was barren of green life and there were no scans of any other life forms.

"Fascinating, the air seems to be similar to that of Vulcan in terms of humidity and temperature." Spock murmured. River blinked but said nothing. She was afraid that anything she said was going to come out funny like her riddles in her fugitive years.

_Two by two, hands of blue. _

Shaking her head out of that memory, she began to walk in one direction towards a cavern. She felt the rest following her, but she kept her eyes on her tricord. If anyone was impressed by her skills of avoiding a dip that appeared before her feet or jumping up a small rise in the path, they kept it to themselves.

It was about twenty minutes later that their paths came upon a large cave. Both tricords began beeping a signal that dilithium was possibly in the ground of the planet. At this point, the party gave a report to the ship of the location before turning on light sources to continue their journey.

The cave consists of red brown dirt and rock and rose high above them as they entered. The wind blew heavily that it was difficult to hear anyone walking much less anything else. River continued to lead, crossing this way and that. She could read the party's hopes that she would remember how to exit out of the cave with the exception of Spock. The half Vulcan had already memorized their current location and could easily recite their way out. At least she had Spock to count on.

It was not until about ten miles into the cave that the signals were strong enough to indicate where the material was. Entering the coordinates into the tricord, River put it away and looked down to see a glimmer of blue.

_Two by two, hands of blue._

She gasped as an image pierced her mind. Screams filled her ears and faces with rage practically knocked her physically against the wall of the cave.

"Commander Tam!"

The scouting party was in shock at her actions while Spock simply placed a hand on her face, trying to relive her of the emotional burden.

"We're not the first." She murmured while calming her furiously beating heart. "Someone came and found it. Went away and came back to hide it. It's theirs they think. Another found it and they didn't like it. They made them go away. They made them go away."

Spock was looking through what she saw and his eyes narrowed a fraction. He could see the images that plagued her but it was difficult to distinguish them from another image that over lapped. However he could see what the problem was.

"Klingons. It would appear that the Klingons have found this dilithium source and has eliminated the previous scouting party. This explains the unusual haste of this mission. A previous scouting party found this same source of dilithium and reported it. We can assume that they had reported their findings but made no more communication due to their immediate deaths upon meeting the Klingons." Spock stated.

"Shit! Obrien to Faulken!" Faulken yelled. The call was answered with static. The entire party was pale with the possible realization of their ship being blown away by Klingon war ships.

"Not Klingons." River murmured. Spock raised an eyebrow at that. "No loyalty, no love. Want power, want what's theirs."

Digging deeper into her mind, Spock began to understand what she was talking about. Their current enemy was a group of rebel Klingons who wanted to be away from their empire. This was even more dangerous than an Imperial war ship. There was a chance of negotiations with those of the Empire, but rebels would not listen. The Federation means nothing for them.

"Can you move or do you need assistance." He asked his human friend. They would need to leave this cave as soon as possible. Their advantage would increase if they left this cave. At least their party would have visibility that did not need the assistance of light sources.

River was still before she pushed away from him and began to jog towards the exit. The rest did the same and soon, all of them were running to leave the underground deathtrap. Their running steps drummed loudly as well as their panic gasps of air. The air hummed with fear and tension with the exception of Spock who easily kept up with the pace and appeared he was taking a morning jog.

However, their hopes of escape dash as they heard running footsteps and loud snarling war cries of the Klingons.

"Scatter!" Faulken roared and dove behind a pillar, taking out his phaser. Spock grabbed River and dove behind a ridge of rock.

All hell went loose after that.

***

River winced as she heard a scream of pain. Apparently there were a lot of Klingons and phasers of six men could only do so much before a lucky Klingon cuts them. She kept trying to control her thoughts of the rage from the Klingons and the fear from the ensigns and one captain. Spock had kept looking over the ridge to seek a chance to attack, but with the shooting from his frantic comrades, it would not be wise to attempt anything.

The screams and the roars began to take a toll for River. She closed her eyes, hoping it will help, however it enhanced the noise by tenfold.

"Go away." She muttered as she clapped her hands on her ears. Her body began to rock and shake back and forth. Spock looked down and began to help by placing a hand to share the burden his friend was suffering. River, he decided, would benefit with Vulcan teachings in mediation if they ever survive this situation.

The images disturbed him greatly as they rushed through. Unlike the first time he had tried to read her mind, the memories he was receiving were concentrated on an event. A small dark room, a weak looking barricade that was easily crushed by many humanoid…what were they? Covered in blood, screaming, and angry. He could feel terrible, horrible, anger. It was not like his own anger when the Vulcan children had insulted his mother and father. It was not like the anger he felt when the council had insulted his mother and his father had done nothing to object.

The anger he felt was impossible for humans or any alien being could produce. It was tidal way of emotion that he felt could rip his karta into dust. These beings were anger, fury, and remorseless in their physical state.

So distracted from these memories, he failed to notice the battle around him. One Klingon had gotten near their hiding place and smashed his double-headed ax against a pillar of rock. Debris flew all over the place and one large piece struck the Vulcan on the head.

His connection was ripped and he found himself lying on the ground. He could smell blood running down a cut on his forehead and he felt the possible signs of a concussion. Blinking rapidly he tried to get up.

However a hand stopped him. Looking up, he found that River was staring at him with horror, her lips pressed tightly and her trembling hand that was free reaching out to touch the cut. As gentle fingers touched his skin, her eyes went blank.

_You take care of me Simon. You've always taken care of me. My turn._

Spock found himself wondering just who was Simon before River disappeared in a flurry of motion. Rising as quickly as he could, he looked over, trying to warn his friend that it was impossible to escape, only to stare in shock.

He had always known that River Tam was easily the most skilled hand-to-hand combat human in Starfleet, however he had never seen her perform in a battle setting such as now.

A girl who was a third of these Klingon's weight had disabled one of his weapons and sliced his throat in a smooth arc. She cut an arm off of another and armed herself with the fallen weapon with her free hand. Then she kicked the injured Klingon down and stabbed him with the sharp end of the weapon. Soon she had gathered the attention of the entire group of murderous Klingons and they surrounded her, attempting to destroy the strongest threat.

Spock would realize later on that the rest of the surviving Starfleet party had stopped their attacks to stare in awe and fear of the youngest Starfleet commander's prowess in battle. While his human side felt fury at their incompetence, his logical side saw that any assistance would hinder Commander Tam's progress.

Each kick appeared to have a gentle grace despite the power it knock into the Klingon that received it. Her arms were smooth and fluid as if she were fighting with light paper fans instead of the heavy Klingon weapons. It looked like it was a dance to the death instead of desperate attempt to survive.

She, Spock thought, was focused. There was no hesitation in her thrusts, kicks, and slices. There was no remorse for the enemy that she cut down. There was no fear.

This was not her first time to end a life. Fascinating and frightening. Spock wondered if this attributed to her amnesia. Or if she ever had amnesia to begin with. He had noticed that she recognized the memory that they shared. She knew what that memory was. He would need to get the truth from her.

"Holy shit. She just…" a male voice called out weakly.

The half Vulcan turned his attention to the scene and found that all of the Klingons were dead and that River stood in the middle of the massacre. There was blood all over her, but it was not hers. Klingon blood splatters and stained all over her skin and uniform. Her form was tense, as if she did not believe the enemy was gone. Somehow, Spock knew that this was a rather dangerous moment for them all.

"Captain, what do we do?" another ensign whispered. Spock watch Faulken shakes his head in fear. Everyone stared at Spock, expecting something from him. Logically, he was the best choice in retrieving River from this odd emotional state. However a tiny whisper sneered that they would rather sacrifice the alien then their own.

"River. It is finished." Spock called out loudly. His head was beginning to form a pounding headache.

She spun so fast with the weapons up that it surprised everyone. Her eyes connected with his for a long moment. Spock could see that her brown eyes were searching for something. They flickered to the rest of the party and landed on Faulken who bulked at the stare. That seemed to surprise her before she landed her eyes back on Spock.

"It is finished, River." Spock repeated.

It was another minute before the weapons dropped on the ground with a loud thunk. River dropped her arms and looked at the scene before her eyes went back to Spock. There was a curious looking frown on her face.

"You're bleeding." She stated. Spock was about to nod but decided against the action.

"That is correct. I was hit with a large piece of debris and I believe to be suffering a minor concussion."

"It's green. Your blood is green." She continued as if she did not notice his assessment. River pursed her lips in annoyance. "Green and red makes brown. It should be brown."

Raising an eyebrow, Spock looked down at his human friend.

"That statement is illogical."

Looking annoyed, River glared to the side. Her head was pounding from the fear the useless ensigns and lack wit of a captain. At least Spock was okay. However she felt his demand for answers. Her fear had override her need to hide and showed a powerful memory that Spock could tell that she had no amnesia.

"Faulken to Obrien! Captain, are you all right?!"

While Faulken yelled at his crew for the lack of warning of a Klingon war group and as they walked away from the cave to be beamed back to the ship, two friends stayed silent.

They both knew that it was time for the truth.

**************************************************

I hope this chapter is what you're all looking for. This is going to get their friendship turn into a whole another level.

The next chapter is not going to be part of the story line. It's going to be an introspect of River wondering why and how she got to the Star Trek world. It'll be short, but I'll have another chapter waiting for you the next day.

Please review!


	5. River's Musings 1

It is 2241 which makes it over 200 years back into the year that I once lived. But the world I live in now is nothing like the world I once lived before.

The people here are not all human. The technology appears to be more advance to anything that I know of. Even my own home planet Osiris did have technology that could match what I see today.

The scariest part is that I am currently located on Earth-That-Was. A planet that is suppose to have been destroyed centuries ago.

I don't know how I managed to land on a extinct planet when I was living a life of smuggler just three months ago. And a little over a year before that I was a fugitive with my older brother, Simon. Before that, I was a little lab rat for the Alliance and before that, I was just a normal girl.

I wonder what I will be this time.

My mind is difficult to comprehend. I know this.

I was a young girl eager for the world outside of my little happy home. The academy that the Alliance had offered was ideal and I had imagined how my school life was going to be. No more boring lessons, silly boobs, and a chance to dance was what I thought it would be.

In the end, I was the boob.

At first, it was odd. Performance tests and evaluations came and went. I always talked with a doctor at the end of the day. Then it became wrong. Something was not right and I started to beg for my brother and later I beg to be released. While the less challenging schools maybe boring, I felt safer there. But they said no and I end up doing more and more tests. Soon it became a series of needles, drugs, sessions upon sessions of audio and visual simulations that made no sense to me. I know I passed them and I felt that they knew I passed them. However I could not understand what they wanted from me.

One day, my world exploded.

I vaguely remembered screaming in pain over the claws in my mind. I felt stripped away from the River Tam who lived for thirteen years of her life and all that was left bare was a shell filled with thoughts and emotions that did not belong to her. I believed that I cried for my family, mostly for Simon. I cried and begged for Simon to save me.

No one saved me.

It was days before I had gotten used to the rush of thoughts and emotions. I was half crazed at what I was hearing through my mind. I could never tell if I was talking out loud or in my head. The volume was always the same. However there was still a pain in my mind. Buried deep and would not come out. I tore at my bed to find the little pea. That little pea that hide itself in my mind. It's not mine and I wanted it gone, but it still stayed hidden from me.

When I found it, I knew I had to get out. I had to get away. So I called for Simon to help me.

He found me. I knew he would. Simon always came to help me.

I just never knew what it cost him until it was too late.

He was scared. I could feel that. My brother had no idea what they did to me and I was not coherent enough to tell him. I was once again lost in the thoughts and emotions of others. My little pea once again became lost in my mind. Simon put me to sleep to hide me and we have no idea of the future to keep me safe.

That's when we found her. Simon talked about how Kaylee had talked him into trying Serenity even though he had doubts about it. Silly Simon.

Serenity was perfect.

We became part of her family over the year, even with Simon grumbling about Captain and man-ape. We lost those we loved and found out that we needed each other. I grew from a scared psychotic little girl to a slightly crazy teen pilot of Serenity. I love her and her family. They are my home.

I want to go home.

****************************************

This is little bit of what's going on in River's head when she's stuck in the hospital. I'll get the next chapter up by Friday or so.


	6. Chapter 5: Spilling the Truth, Maybe

I like to thank everyone who reviewed. But I also appreciated to all the people who came by and read my fic. I know you guys don't think about reviewing, but I'm glad that plenty of people are reading!

As always, just about eighty percent of the fic's content does not belong to me. It belongs to the rich people who have money to buy the Ra dang rights to do anything.

WARNING!!!!: Major spoliers for Firefly and Serenity

A Reader in the Stars

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Chapter Five: Spilling the Truth, Maybe

***********************

They had stayed in orbit for a week before they went back again to survey the planet. Faulken had an investigation going on about the lack of intell of rogue Klingons before it was discovered that his own communications officer had not been paying attention to his own station until the ship's own scanners managed to pick up the beat up Klingon ship.

The man was court marshaled on the spot and Spock had to take over the job. Thus, leaving River all by herself to do the surveying of the land.

She was stuck with a group of ensigns, the captain declared that he wanted to contact Starfleet about the events, and she was getting cross at the thoughts that kept pushing into her mind. Most of it was fear and awe. The stupid ensigns were in awe of a commander who can kick a melee of Klingons all on her own and were fearful of pissing her off.

This, she thought, was another block between herself and everyone else. Another point that she was above them when all she wanted was to be normal. Or at least as normal as she could be.

It was nearly two weeks before River and Spock confirmed that there was an additional three pockets of dilithium were found. Alpha 12 was not the richest in the material but it was decent. They stayed for an additional two weeks to ensure that the Federation would be the only one to mine this planet before ships with mining equipment arrived with three star ships for protection.

Finally, USS Obrien was going back to base.

River leaned against the window of space in her quarters. She could only remember seeing space from the cockpit, not her own room. Taking a deep breath, peace settled upon her body. So much had happen in the space of one day and yet the days afterward were mundane. She had yet to tell the truth that Spock wanted.

They were too busy to have a serious talk that was outside of the mission. Spock spent most of his days stuck doing someone else's job and she was stuck doing the work of two people. There was coordinates that need to be recorded, diminsions of the caves and caverns that contained the dilithium, the chemical content of the air, and the estimate of dilithium that could be extracted had to be calculated and sent to Starfleet for review.

It made River apperciate the idea of being a smuggler even more then before.

Now, there was nothing more that needs to be done. In five minutes, she would be back at Starfleet academy and she would have to talk with Spock. Sighing, she twirled away from the view, biting her lip. What could she do? Lie about what he saw? Tell him everything? Pushing all the thoughts away, River wished that she had Mal here with her. At least he would know- scratch that, she wished that Inara was here. Inara was always good at making up stories and convincing people what she wanted- except with Mal.

The almost eighteen year old scrunched up her nose at the thought. Those two were worse than Simon. At least Simon tries when he wasn't looking out for her. Mal and Inara were stupid children denying everything that ought to be. To be fair, they had gotten better after Miranda. Inara had taken a sabbatical from her work although Mal was hoping she would quit what he said was whoring. River personally thought that what Inara was no more different than what anyone else would do at Starfleet. People sleep their way to the top or just for the lust of it. It was not like Inara was into the sex, she was into the art of being a Companion.

She picked up thoughts coming close to her quaters and pouted. It was Spock and he was determine to get the truth as of now.

River opened the door before her friend could even indicate that he had arrived. If he was surprised, he showed no sign of it. They both silently entered in to her room and River had the computer lock the door. Spock took a seat and she once again leaned against her window. Tapping her foot, she waited for Spock to say something first. There was no gorram way that she was going to say anything first.

"You do not have anmesia."

River rolled her eyes at that. He was definitely to the point.

"No."

"Will you explain to me why you gave a falsehood on the initial interview with those that found you?"

"Maybe."

There was a silence and River felt his irritation of her short answers. Well tuff. It's not like he understand what it is like to be ripped from everything that was home.

"Is there any reason why you are unable to trust me with your reasoning?"

She could feel the start of his resentment of being half Vulcan and half Human. She felt bad for making him feel doubts of being born different with no place to fit in. River spaced out and relived his memories of the Vulcan children who mocked him of his parentage. The fight he had gotten into at the age of ten Terran years. His fears of resenting his mother for something she had no control over. She could feel how deep his love for his mother was. It was the same as Simon's love for her.

Warm and gentle was that love. River made a sound of contentment at the love shone deep in her friend.

"I trust you. I just don't think you believe me. People had trouble believing me before." she answered softly. They were silent for a time before Spock rose from his seat. Walking up to the female who was his friend, he offered his hand above her face.

"A mind meld. That will help prove your story is factual and you may extract a request from me of secrecy if that is what you wish."

River smiled at him sadly.

"Unless it is a danger to Starfleet?" she asked him, pulling out his thoughts in the open.

"Will it be a danger to Starfleet and any Federation system?" Spock inquired. He was worried about Vulcan. River stared at his offered hand for a few seconds.

"The only danger is me." she answered ominously before snatching his hand and slammed it over her face.

With a scream of thoughts and emotions, Spock blacked out.

***

For a time, Spock was unable to gain any bearings to control the mind meld. This was unusual and disconcerting. While he maybe only half Vulcan, he was proficient enough to control a mind meld. He waited for three minutes and forty-seven seconds before he finally felt River and a memory appeared.

The memory contained a lavish home with a pleasing garden. It was a place that he knew his mother would enjoy visiting. He looked around to see the stars since it was dark and found himself frowning at the location of the stars. It he understood what he was seeing, they were not on Earth. These stars could be seen somewhere in the Alpha quadrant.

_This is my home. On the planet Osiris._

Spock blinked in surprise at that. He was unaware that there were humans living other than Earth and space.

_That's because there is no Earth._

His feeling of shock practically consumed him. How was it...

The memory changed into a view of space. The view was that from a space shuttle leaving Earth. The Earth instead of a blue planet was turning into a dried and dying planet.

_Earth was dying and my ancestors left to find other worlds that we would survive on. Most of the population got out before the planet literally exploded. They found other systems where they terra formed the planets. We call our home planet Earth-that-Was._

The memory quickly changed into a planet that a blue like Earth and Spock was able to see it was populated with cities and star ships, very odd star ships.

_Some of the planets were populated and were called the Core planets. They were the sophisticated ones. The more civilized ones._

He could feel a distinct sneer at River's description. He filed it away for later. The memory changed into a different planet. He could see that it was not populated like the previous planet and the habitations were poor.

_Those planets that were farther out of the Core systems are the Outter Rim planets. People with less resources live there and people who wanted to get rich quick. It's a place where justice doesn't exist._

Where was the governing agent?

_The Alliance was the governing body._

Star ships appeared in the space, large and bulky. Spock found himself rising an eyebrow at the poor design of the fleet. They vaguely reminded him of the Klingon's war birds only worse.

_There was a dispute about their right to govern, but their numbers ruled. Many died over the battles, especially Serenity._

There was flash of a very odd ship before Spock found himself staring at a family. They looked happy and loving. One was a boy about fourteen and there a little girl of six chatting over what looked like a PADD. The father was sitting reading a file while watching his children and the mother was reading a book.

_That was my family. My brother Simon always made time for me._

That was when the memories began to get distorted. Spock felt like he was watching several memories at the same time but it would not slow down until it stopped with a man clutching his throat before falling over. The surrounding was oddly bare with a table, chair and a mirror. He could see the reflection of River dressed in a plain uniform. There was dark circle and her expression was not rational.

_I'm afraid that my memories are messy. When I was in my early teens, I joined a school that was supported by the Alliance. It was suppose to be for children with advance education. It was a lie._

Flashes of memories appeared and Spock could distinguish some of them. There was a memory of a physical test and then there was a simulation. Another was a bed being ripped apart and then there was a letter being written. However it was going to fast for him to fully understand what was showing.

_The sponsor for the school was called Blue Sun. They were trying to create human weapons in both the physical and mental sense. Little human soldiers for them to play. For a time I was fine. Then something happened._

Spock found himself facing an on slaughter of emotions that overwhelmed him in levels that he knew not were possible. He thought the mental connection he shared with River on Alpha 12 was overwhelming. It was nothing compared to this rape.

_I was fourteen when they decided to cut into my brain and remove most of the amygdala. That day my reading abilities went out of control._

It took him ten minutes and thirty-three seconds for Spock to compose himself. He could feel that River was waiting him to gain his composure before she went on. He felt himself being disgusted and fascinated at these humans. Would Starfleet operate such travesties in the future?

_Simon saved me. He risked everything for me. He thinks I don't know, but our parents disowned him because he saved me._

The image of Simon appeared and this time he was in his twenties. He was handsome in human terms and Spock found that there was similarities in their basic appearance. Dark hair and a need for protocol was what River saw between the two. From several other memories, Simon was a doctor and a brillant one. Spock found that it was a pity that Simon was not among the medical personnel of Starfleet.

_Blue Sun wanted me back and we became fugitives. Simon was worried about who to trust and how to run. He hide me as one of his cargo. He was such a boob._

There was a hint of amusement and affection at that thought. There was no memory but the feeling was comforting. Then suddenly there was image of people staring and the memory was shaky as it moved from one person to another before it went black.

_Simon found a ship called Serenity. He thought the ship looked like luh-suh, but he got a crush on the mechanic, Kaylee._

An attractive girl in her early twenties wearing poor mechanic clothing and the image of the odd ship appeared. Spock took a moment to study the ship. It was nothing he had ever seen of a star ship. There was a look to it that reminded him of a horse. It contained one main engine with two thrusters. The design of it suggested that it did not do warp traveling.

_Serenity was a Firefly class. It's suppose to be a firefly. It was pretty old model during my time._

Spock could see it, but soon images of the cockpit and the speed and mobility of the ship fascinated him greatly. Many of the shuttles of the Federation did not have half of the mobility that this Serenity did and if it had warp capabilities, it would be a greatly desired ship.

_When they found out that Simon and I were fugitives of the Alliance, Captain Malcom Reynolds took us in exchange for Simon's expertise in medicine. The others took time to warm up to us but we became a family of sorts. There was Zoe and Wash. They got married. Then there was man-ape Jayne. He's loves his ma very much. There was Shepard Book who's bible I tried to fix but he got mad. Then there's Inara. Mal turns into a huge boob around her._

With each name, a memory of the person appeared. First it was a man in his thirties wearing clothing that was not a uniform. In fact if Spock were to go into detail, the clothing was similar to the films of the western genre of entertainment. A couple was next consisting of a handsome African woman with a Caucasian male who smiled in a foolish manner. Then a man of gruff appearance with a leer carrying a variety of weaponry. Next was a black man with white dreads wearing clean cut clothing reading a book. The last and final person was a beautiful woman with dark glossy black curls and a sensual smile. Obviously the Captain Malcom was infatuated with this woman.

_For a year, we were fine. There was a time where the crew and even Simon could not trust me. They figured out that I was trained to kill and that there were times that I was unable to tell the difference between this reality and the one in my head. Mal figured out my ability to read. He had suspicions for a while but it was finally confirmed when they discussed about me. Man-ape thought I ate brains._

An image of a tree branch in a hand soon replaced by a gun unsettled Spock.

_They got use to it. Mal thought it was time to earn my keep and I joined him in robbing a bank. Simon wasn't happy. It was okay. The only bad parts were the Reavers and when I ate a bug. That was not fun._

Reavers. It was those humanoid beings that he saw before. He watched the memory of them eating at a living body before the image grew smaller. How did they exist?

_Simon wanted out. We were going to spilt up and we did. But the Alliance found another way to find me. They used a message to trigger my brain and I went out of control. Wash says that I beat up thirty guys and handed man-ape on his ass before Simon stopped me. Mal was angry but he took us back and ran. He had a hard time figuring out what to do with me. He didn't know if he should leave me or not._

However he did not, Spock thought. There was no memory other than the vigil of watching Captain Malcom.

_While they figured out what to do, I finally figure out what was being driven into my mind. It was a secret and it was so large that the Alliance killed everyone that was connected to the Serenity. There was a planet called Miranda was terra formed a century before. People lived there but they were experimented on with a drug that was suppose to suppressed hormones that caused aggression. It was an idea of keeping peace among the universe. It worked too well._

River conjured up the memory of the dead planet with the corposes laying down in the middle of what appeared to be working. It seemed that they just dropped dead from what they were doing.

_The drug caused most of them to not care about anything to the point that they quit breathing. The rest of the population was affected in a different way. The drug end up increase their aggression to the point that they have only three functions. Rape, eat, and kill. They were called Reavers. Their most merciful would be killing then raping and then eating the flesh of their victims. We fought a long way to get the truth out into the air. We lost two good people, Wash and Book, for the fight._

Suddenly Spock felt himself being booted from the mind meld and began to take deep breaths to regain his bearings. River stood in front on him, pale and trembling.

"Fascinating." Spock finally said. River gave tiny smile at that. He took his time to think about everything he had learned. "You are from a different world. A different reality. One that is not possible with theories of the subject being discussed. Your time is two centuries ahead of our current stardate."

"Correct. One day I was running from a job gone south and the next I find myself in a park in sunny Cali on a Earth that should not have exist." River replied.

Spock paced for a moment before turning to face River.

"I believe from what I learned that your memory serves no purpose in being revealed to Starfleet. You have no real knowledge that could benefit this current world. However I believe that you are currently a danger with your previous training. In conclusion, you will need to undergo Vulcan meditation exercises. Your problem is emotional distress under crisis which forces you to go in auto-pilot in dealing with the situation. I believe there is 63% chance that you will have more control over your abilities and will become more effective in your service to Starfleet in the future."

River cocked her head to the side and let his answer sink in. She never had a chance to learn anything about controlling Reader abilities. Inara had inquired once with her connections, but any Readers with abilities were either dead or hiding from the Alliance. Spock seemed positive that his meditation exercises would help.

"Do you really believe that?"

"I am positive that you will improve and that man-ape is the most illogical creature to exist. If you would have been eating brains, you would have done so before the two of you reached a connection."

She smiled at his comment.

"Thank you."

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Wow that was long. Althought most of it was just revisiting Firefly and Serenity. Hoped you liked it very much.


	7. Chapter 6: Learning to Live Normal

I want to thank everyone for the reviews! I'm glad that you feel that River has Spock to confide in. I know for sure that it will make the story interesting for sure!

Disclaimer: Firefly, Serenity, and Star Trek do not belong to me. No matter how much I wish for it every day. Gods know how much I want them to be. Joss Whedon rules!

A Reader in the Stars

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Chapter Six: Learning to Live Normal

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A week after the return back to Starfleet Academy, River found a summons to court for the following Monday. Apparently, she and Spock were needed as witnesses about the incident of Alpha 12. She felt a little bit uneasy about this however she had no intentions of running away. Spock had begun to teach her Vulcan meditation and it was frustrating. However, Spock believed that she would be able to grasp the benefits soon.

They had shared more about River's life after the lessons and during the time they spent together with the new final exam, it was called the Kobuyashi Maru test, eating out, and shopping. Spock found the concept of shopping to be a waste since half the time River did not purchase anything. She had scolded the half Vulcan that window shopping was a good activity for them to spend time together.

Due to their time spent together, rumors began to pop up. Many of the cadets believed that they were dating and it apparently disappointed the male population of the cadets who had been hoping to date her since she was the youngest female commander in Starfleet. The other professors/commanders had gossiped how their 'relationship' was going to cause trouble for Starfleet. They were envious of the young looking pair of commanders for their brilliance in the Alpha 12 incident and that Captain Pike had already called for them to be part of his crew when his ship was ready for her maiden voyage.

River got up from her seat and began to dance to music that her mind could hear. Getting the courses ready for next week where term was going to start was a pain. At least she did not have to worry about two different courses. Spock had too much on his plate, but her friend had insisted that he was able to handle the load even with River helping him out with his pile of essays. She always replied with a roll of her eyes and a look that expressed to Spock that he was a boob.

"Computer, play Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Tempo di valse."

The ancient classical music filtered into the air and River floated this way and that in her office. She had seen a performance of it on a holo once and she memorized as much as she could from watching. Now she was dancing to what she remembered with an original move here and there.

So involved with her love of dancing that she barely heard the ring of her door and she absently called the computer to open the door. When the thoughts of the person who entered made her realized that it was not Spock or Pike did she turn to face the person with her back straight and her left leg extended in the air.

It was a cadet who had entered. Already bored with the interruption, River went back to her dancing. She read his thoughts of incredulous before it switch to the admiration of her dancing. Preening in the admiration, River went on dancing until the piece ended. She waited for a minute before frowning.

The boob of a cadet had not applauded. He was still staring at her. Thoughts of her dancing and how beautiful she was and- wow, she had read plenty of dirty thoughts but this cadet was only thinking about kissing her and staring in her eyes. She giggled.

That snapped the cadet out of his daze.

"Commander Tam, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare or anything. But your door opened and-"

He was babbling. It was cute. And all he wanted was to ask if he could join in her class.

"Cadet, how can I help you?" she asked in amusement. Then she remembered about her peeve. "But applaud first. That's an order."

The cadet looked confused for a moment before he slowly began to clap. River took a moment to bask at the attention before she took a step forward and tilted her head to look up at the cadet. This caused the cadet to stop and his eyes began to glaze. She ignored the sweet romantic thoughts before she cleared her throat.

That snapped the cadet back to attention.

"Commander Tam. I'm here about entering the first course of Interspecies Ethics and Protocol. I believe that I would need your permission to enter since it is past the deadline." he explained quickly, his face turning red. She pursed her lips at that and a look of disapproval settle on her face.

"Why so late? First course is mandatory for every cadet. All of my classes are full." she pointed out and walked towards her discarded PADD. With the stylus, she quickly looked through the roster. It was true, her classes were full. Technically, she could fit this cadet into one of her classes, but Spock would scold at her for making exceptions.

"I understand, but there is a chance that someone would drop out at the last minute. I was planning to take Advance Comabat next term since I tested out the first course, but I need to take your class before I can apply." the cadet explained.

River studied the cadet in front of her. He was taller than her but shorter than Spock. She suppose that he was good looking, Japanese from what she could read from his thoughts, although not as muscled as some of the men that she was familiar to. Even Simon had a broader chest than this cadet. She guessed that he would fill out once he graduated.

"What do you want to apply to, cadet?" she asked. She knew the answer, but it was always nice to hear it out loud, especially if the answer was a honest one.

"I wish to apply to the pilot program and to be recruited to the Enterprise when I graduate."

"Why the Enterprise? It's not going to be finished for a few more years? Why not the other star ships?" River never found any appeal to the Enterprise. While it was nice to look at the holovids for the progress, there was nothing that she could feel for the star ship.

"They say that she's going to be the best and Captain Pike is her captain. He's a hero. Who wouldn't take a chance at that, commander?"

River kept her mouth shut at that. She knew that over half of the cadets were hoping to take a place at the Enterprise when it was completed. Pike was famous because not only was he a good captain, he had the charisma that others lack. The younger generation all look up to the man. Still, as she looked at the cadet over again, it would be interesting to see how serious this one would be. Closing her eyes, she let her thoughts go and felt a peace before she opened her eyes.

"My course work is hard, cadet. Don't slack off just because it's the first course. I expect good work. You want to be in space, you need to understand that people you meet aren't used to the Federation. Report to class next week on Tuesday at 0800." River replied as she quickly tapped at the PADD for the late entry.

Said cadet whooped in excitement before he flushed in embarrassment.

"I promise you, commander. You will not regret this!"

River gave him a look that stated he was a boob again.

"Good. I expect your first essay to be more than acceptable. Dismissed." she said airily and waved her hand towards the door. The cadet grabbed her hand and kissed it quickly. River blinked at the action. This was first time anyone kissed her hand.

"Right! I'll get going! See you at 0800, commander."

She had to giggle at his super fast retreat. His thoughts projected that she was going to kick his ass for his little stunt. Looking down at her hand, River smiled and went back to working on her course work.

"You better not make me regret it, Cadet Sulu." she murmured losing herself into her PADD.

***

The trial on Monday was not what she had expected. At least not for herself and Spock. While the idiot communications officer was tried and was demoted to sectary work for some old admiral, the council were more interested in what happened with the Klingons.

"According to the reports summit by the party, Commander Tam, you took down most of the Klingons that attacked yourself and the others. My question to you is why have you not mention your skills before?" one member, Torack she vaguely remember, asked with little emotion. Inside, River could read that Torack was furious that there was no information about her skills being tested against other alien species.

"My skills have been mentioned before, sir. In fact your files have all of my physical tests and I have tested out in all combat exams when it was agreed about my position here at Starfleet. I was unaware that testing needed to be done in physical combat with hostile species to be part of Starfleet. I believe that such a test would be unethical." she replied with careful mockery.

"And it is." Admiral Komack replied before Torack said something to disgrace the entire council. The man bit back what reply he would have said and stayed silent. "Commander Tam, we are not here to pass judgement on your actions. Your skills on Alpha 12 have saved not only the party of officers that were assigned with you, you also managed to secure the new mine for the Federation from rogue Klingons. What the council is asking is why are you not applying for a more active position here in Starfleet."

River did not like where this was going. She could already tell that they wanted her to be in the front lines of defense for the Federation. A human taking on a melee of Klingons was better put in the mix of things.

"My talents as you remember, council members, are the reason why I have not applied for an active position. Many of our fleet members find me intimidating to deal with. I believe Captain Faulken himself stated that he did not want to have another mission with me a board unless Commander Spock is assigned as well. I am also better with the teaching position until starship Enterprise is complete where I will be Captain Pike's Chief Science Officer. At least he is able to handle me."

The silence was deafening for a moment. Her barb at the council for their fear of her reading ability hung between them. Some looked ashamed while others looked furious for her mockery at the council. Only Komack showed nothing. His thoughts were deciding between commanding her to the frontline to letting her rot in Starfleet Academy. River was not too worry about Komack. He was always fair.

"Your point is made. You may stay with your current position in Starfleet Academy. Stand down. Commander Spock, please rise."

River walked back to her seat in the crowd and managed to touch Spock's hand to send a message.

_They want you to take over the Communications program._

She could feel his body relax at her communication. No doubt he was worried about the more dangerous tangents that the council would ask about River's abilities.

"Commander Spock, we have looked at your work during the expedition of Alpha 12 and we are impressed with you. There is no doubt that the communications department could use an overhaul similar to what you have done with your current courses. We would like you take charge in that department, I understand that you have an extensive vocabulary with multitudes of xenolinguistics." Komack stated.

"Indeed. I will do my best to ensure that future cadets interested in the path of xenolinguisitcs will have the skills and abilities needed for all starships." Spock answered coolly. River frowned at that. It would mean more work for her friend. As if he did not have enough on his plate. At least the Kobuyashi Maru test was completed.

Then she stifled a giggle. Those cadets were going to hang themselves when Spock gets his hands on that course material.

***

By the time Tuesday came, River was exhausted. Spock had gotten the material on the communications department and asked for help. River could feel that her eyes were going to come off from all the staring that she did on her PADD. The previous person was a full score gorram chai ma niao SOB who had been letting cadets make it with the bare minimum. At least her course work for her classes were completed before Spock came with his mess. While her friend did not express it, she could feel his frustration at the lax of the courses. She hate to think what the current commnications officers are like in those star ships.

She was currently sitting on her desk with her feet up. At least she wore some shorts underneath her uniform so it did not matter if the cadets could see down her skirt. Her eyes were fixed on the ceiling since closing would only make her fall asleep. Reaching for the cup of coffee that she got from the mess hall, she sipped it until she could feel the air buzz with the numerous thoughts of her lazed position. Sighing, she swung her feet to the ground and got up.

A mess of flowers greeted in front of her.

Blinking, she stared at them for a moment. The flowers were lovely bunch of pinks, yellows, whites, oranges, and violets. They mixed in various sizes from those that were smaller than her pinky nail to the ones that were as large as her hands. The fragrance was also lovely. They did not have the over powering smell of exotic tropical flowers nor did they have the bitter smell of plant sap or pollen. They also looked like they were freshly picked.

Looking up from the flowers, she could see the smiling face of Cadet Sulu holding onto the flowers. She must have been really exhausted to not sense his thoughts which were currently on her.

"Cadet?" she asked and received her answer after that.

"They're for you, Commander Tam. As thanks for letting me in."

River pressed her lips to keep a laugh from escaping. Man-ape would really have a nasty comment on that sentence.

"No thanks is needed, cadet." She murmured and took the flowers from him. "Go and sit."

Turning away, she took a sniff and felt relaxed. Placing the flowers carefully on the desk, she took up the computer and turned on the screen at the front of the class. She could hear the thoughts of some of the cadets about the flowers and thinking about if Spock would beat the crap out of Cadet Sulu. Rolling her eyes, she turned her lecture on.

"Many of you cadets believe that Starfleet is about protecting the peace, having space adventures, and going into the final frontier. All of it is true, but understand this. You are not alone. You are not the superior species. You are part of the Federation and when you go into space or in any service of Starfleet you need to know how to act and how to handle situations that normally you would never second guess on. This is why you are all required to take my class. Those who do not pass will be forced to take this class over and over until you do. I will not have any cadet here pass while thinking like a Tribble, understand?" she asked sharply.

Taking in the thoughts of disbelief and respect, she looked over at Sulu who stared right at her. She pursed her lips into an amused smile before pressing her PADD the command to the next part of her lecture.

"Klingons. One of our antagonists against the Federation. While we continue to have conflicts with them and the Romulans, there is some belief that the Klingons would be easier to convince to join the Federation than the Romulans who are cousins to the Vulcans. Can anyone tell me why?"

She could see her class shift in discomfort. For all they knew, Klingons never had a reason to join the Federation since they were considered to be barabaric. Well, turns out they are as hopeless as the previous classes.

"Honor."

Blinking, River looked up to see Cadet Sulu looking embarrassed from all the stares from his peers. Lifting an eyebrow, she nodded her head for Cadet Sulu to continue.

"The Klingons have a strong code of honor. If they ever decided to join the Federation, their strong sense of honor will have them bond strongly with us."

A smile spread upon her face. It looks like Cadet Sulu would not be disappointing her.

"There is the fact that their reason for antagonism is just due to miscommunication between the Klingon empire and the Federation. Unlike the Romulans who have a more religious problem with the Vulcans who are part of the Federation."

This comment came from a different cadet, a female who looked gorgeous like Inara. River could read that this African woman was Cadet Uhura and she was interested in the field of xenolinguistics. Looking at the cadet, River felt a wave of pride coming from her. She hid a smile by ducking her head into her PADD. Spock was going to have his hands full with this cadet.

"Thank you Cadet Sulu and Cadet Uhura. Those are very good points. I hope the rest of you can provide better views when we discuss about new planets and current politics. We'll begin with the Klingons. Take your notes."

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I introduced two more people! Sulu and Uhura! Sorry for skipping out last week. I only had half of it done and didn't have time to finish the rest.

Next time I might go and introduce another character...although I think it's going a bit too fast...

Please review!


	8. Chapter 7: School Days

Sorry for the long wait. I had finals that I needed to concentrate on and I think I totally failed on them. Oh well.

Love the reviews! I've been watching Battlestar Galatica and I had this idea for a fic, but I'm not going to do anything with it until I finish with this one.

Disclaimer: Seriously, this fic would be a frakkin' movie if I had the rights.

A Reader in the Stars

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Chapter Seven: School Days

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Cadet Sulu kept giving her flowers every time he came to her class. Some days they were simple Terrain flowers and other times they were alien species that she had never heard of before. All of them were beautiful and smelled delightful.

River found herself amused with Cadet Sulu's thoughts whenever he gave her flowers. He was always admiring her and often thought about her dancing. She had taken it to dance in the gym whenever possible and the cadet would catch her sometimes. He would usually just watch, never interrupting and would never come up to talk due to Spock usually being with her to spar afterward. There were a couple of pretty hot fantasies that made her giggle, but Cadet Sulu's attentions were just a form of a crush.

Spock was less amused with the attention and kept on warning her about protocol. River would just roll her eyes at him, knowing that he was worried about the council trying to find some way to send her to the front lines. She knew full well that Spock's real problem was the attraction he was denying toward Cadet Uhura.

River, having read the female cadet's mind during her class, wanted to see if there was anything interesting happening in her friend's class and she was not disappointed.

The moment Spock had gotten the class settled, River slipped in and sat at the vacant chair behind the instructor desk. Spock never sits during his lectures leaving the chair free for River to sit in. Spock looked over and gave a small nod before launching in the lecture that was causing several cadets to curse mentally. However there was one mind that was more preoccupied with her presence than the lecture.

_So the rumors are true. Commander Tam and Spock are very good friends. I wonder who really prepared the lectures._

River slid her eyes over to Cadet Uhura who was staring at her in turn. Pursing her lips, River decided to have some fun for once. Spock totally owes her like Captain owing Kaylee for keeping Serenity up with parts that should have been replaced months ago. Taking her PADD, she hacked into the computer link and began to change Spock's lecture notes on the screen from standard to Vulcan.

Spock usually was good at noticing change did not even blink but only sent a thought out to River to cease her idea of a prank. He however did not bother to change the setting back just yet. She supposed that he wanted to see if the cadets would do the logical thing in asking about the change. Hearing their thoughts, River knew that they were all freaking out but were afraid to ask any questions.

"Commander Spock."

Well, she was wrong. One cadet was going to say something. Spock looked up to the only cadet standing. River had to drop her head into her PADD to hide the grin on her face. Spock's thoughts were clinical and poetic at the same time on Cadet Uhura.

_Skin color similar to River's favorite drink of ice mocha. Long ebony hair that is illogical length for Starfleet however is a pleasing contrast to the standard uniform. Features that are pleasing to the opposite sex however does little good if she does not complete the course._

River bit her lip to stop the laughter but her shoulders were shaking.

"Yes, Cadet Uhura?"

Cadet Uhura paused for a moment before going on. River could tell that she was surprised about Spock knowing her name. She was not since it was she who mentally told Spock about the two cadets who had potential to pass her class.

"The notes are in Vulcan. I believe that it is not logical for the first lesson in xenolinguistics in grammar and phonics to be in a language that most of the class has little experience in."

A snort escaped River and Spock gave her a slight frown (an extra millimeter twitch of an eyebrow) before turning his attention back to Cadet Uhura.

"You mention most of the class. That means you know or know someone who understands Vulcan perfectly well. Is that correct, cadet?" he asked drily.

"Yes sir. I am versed in one dialect of Vulcan and hoping to learn more." Cadet Uhura answered with a tone of pride. "Sanosh rubai kup-pitoh Eingelsu."

River ducked her head to cover herself with the desk so that the cadets would not see her shaking so hard that she would have fallen off of the chair. It could not be helped. Spock thoughts were in shock and she knew that his eyes have widened at least five millimeters from Cadet Uhura's little display of Vulcan.

Not wanting to embarrass the cadet in front of her entire class, River controlled her shaking to get up and touch Spock's hand.

_S-sanoi. She meant sanoi._

Spock relaxed in her mind before ordering her back to her seat and allowed him to continue his lecture.

"Thank you, cadet. Please be seated." Spock ordered and with a few touches on his PADD, the notes changed back to standard.

It was River who had to tell Uhura her mistake since Spock felt that Uhura would not have embarrassed herself if River had not performed her prank. River had the pleasure to see Uhura flush darkly and asked if Commander Spock was insulted with her slip up. River assured her that Spock was not insulted and that he was impressed that someone in his class knows Vulcan at all.

After that little mishap, Spock soon found himself head to head against Cadet Uhura during his classes with her. River had to spend most of her free time refereeing their debates in order for the rest of the class to get anything out of the class. Then whenever Spock and River spent time together, Spock always end up repeating himself about Cadet Sulu's advances and how inappropriate they were on a whole. River would remind Spock that she could read Cadet Sulu's mind and that nothing was going to happen. Then she would tease Spock about Cadet Uhura and how he was getting his panties in a bunch over a cadet.

Spock would always reply the same way.

"River, I do not wear female undergarment. The design of female undergarments would cause them to bunch if any male species were to wear them."

Either way, River soon grew tired of the argument and end it by calling Spock a boob.

***

River found herself alone one weekend bored and slightly upset. Spock had a meeting with the other professors in the language department and there was no way that River was going to stay four hours listening about the course materials and exams. Since it was the weekend, a good portion of the cadets were either visiting home or out drinking.

She did not like the idea of staying in her quarters and decided to go out. Changing into civies of a white tank top and jeans, she put her hair down and began to leave the campus. There were plenty of things she could do, however she had no idea what they were. Unlike the majority of the cadets, she was unable to go out drinking just yet. Pike had made sure of that when she received her ID.

Maybe she should go to the movies. That was something she had barely had time to do. However it was no fun without Spock to commentate mentally about the unrealistic storyline and the effects that were put into it. Like that really old movie trilogy movie with the ring, wizard, and the little people. She was about to commit herself to go to Chinatown to eat, when a sound caught her attention.

Looking around, she noticed a cadet carrying a pile of books and had bumped into the side of a building. Tilting her head, she stared at the figure as he tired to balance the pile of books in his arms while backing out of the way. A foreign curse that she vaguely remembered as Russian floated in the air as the cadet attempted to walk straight. River could read his mind which consisted of Russian curses and slight self-contempt. She could read that the cadet was home sick and was complaining about how the other cadets were looking down on him for his young age.

"Good evening, cadet." River called out in Russian. This surprised the cadet so much that he dropped his books and she could see just how young the cadet was. He looked younger than her and looked so adorable! She could imagine how Inara and Kaylee would coo at this sweetie

The cadet was looking at her in confusion. He was thinking that civilians should not be roaming around in Starfleet campus at this time and how nice it was to hear someone talk in his native language. River took that time to help pile up the books from the ground and passed them on to him. She took half of his burden and cocked her head.

"Where are you going at this time with such old material? Do the PADDs not cover enough for you?" River inquired still in Russian. This startled the cadet into action who thanked her and tried his best to insisted that he need no assistance. River ignored this and proceed to lead him to his destination via her reading skills.

"These are some old philosophy and physic books from my homeland that I found in the library. I wanted to read them since there is nothing else to do for me." the cadet replied bitterly. River could feel his thoughts on his school life so far. She had to admit it sucked for him. Being with cadets who were easily five years older than him and no other peer to help him around the social circle. At least she had Spock and her status to amuse her.

"Well, cadet, since you and I have no plans, let's go out." River said as she entered the cadet's pass code. This shock the poor boy so much that he still did not realized that this person who he thought was a civilian had led him to his own dorm and opened the door. She proceed to release both their burdens and ordered the cadet to change into something more civilized than a read uniform. He did as ordered and soon became coherent enough to study her in curiosity.

"Miss, how did you know Russian and my pass code?" he asked with his wide eyes. River simply pat his head and took his hand.

"I'm special. Now, let's go and have a fun night out. Maybe Spock will join us later when he's finished with those boring boobs." she said and dragged him to a bus.

Spock did join them later at the hot pot shop after she and the cadet, Pavel Chekov, went around playing arcade games, window shopping, and watching an old twentieth century movie. Chekov was slightly wary of the small restaurant but soon admit that the food was good even if it was not Russian. Her half Vulcan friend initially frowned at her company before Chekov managed to prove himself as an intelligent being with extra-ordinary hopes of being a navigator to a star ship. Apparently the baby-face Russian loved numbers.

The three spent the rest of the night eating and discussing theories in astrophysics, navigational systems, and number theory. They were so into their conversation that they were kicked out of the shop when closing time came and River led them to a 24-hour diner near campus in order to continue. Spock was not as comfortable about the diner until he was assured by the waitress that they had dishes for the more alien species who visited. They end up staying until two in the morning despite Spock's initial comment on how illogical it was for them to ruin their body systems on late night meals and conversation. River retort that they had been doing that ever since he took up the communications department and that got all three of them to discuss about communications systems and the timing.

River and Spock had escorted Cadet Chekov back to his quarters since it was pass curfew and they all promise to meet up at breakfast so they could continue their discussion on Russian history and space.

"Thank you. This is the first time that I do not feel homesick. May I have your name?" Chekov asked shyly. River blinked and Spock raised an eyebrow at her. She had gotten used to her reading abilities that she forgot that Chekov did not know her name. She smiled softly and mentally chuckled to herself at her forgetfulness.

"Commander River Tam. We'll see you tomorrow at 0900." River answered while Chekov's eyes widen to the point that they looked like they would bug out.

"Commander? I am sorry that I took so much of your time! You must have had plans before..." Chekov rambled nervously. Spock stopped him before the cadet could worry himself into a coma.

"Commander Tam was not inconvenience by your company, cadet. She does not have many peers due to her age and status among the rest of her age group. There is no doubt that she found your aquientance to be most acceptable as do I."

That shocked poor Chekov more than her revealed status. River pushed Chekov towards his dorm.

"Go to sleep, cadet. Since it's the weekend tomorrow, we'll go and see the simulations after breakfast."

Chekov brighten at that and rushed into his dorm with good-nights. The two older remaining company watched him before turning towards the officer quarters. River grabbed Spock's hand and began to swing it back and forth. Spock allowed this since he could read that she was remembering her time with Simon as children. The memory of just herself and Simon was accompanied by the feeling that she had been lonely without other friends other than her brother. He could understand this from his own childhood with no companions among the other Vulcan children. River's thumb began to move in a comforting circular motion and he relaxed.

_We're all alike. You, me, and Chekov. You know, he was being made fun back in Russia for being so smart and not physically strong. He misses his mother like you do._

Spock nodded and sent some of his memories of his mother to River. He knew that his mother would appreciate River very much if they should meet. He received some memories of River's mother, but they were faint. Despite the Vulcan meditation lessons, River's memory remained fragile but her mind's resistance had grown steadily.

They were passing the female dorms when River stopped. Spock felt a flash of surprise, confusion, and then jealously. He was no stranger to jealously due to his own childhood of wishing for a place in the Vulcan society, however these emotions seemed to be coming from River. Although when he looked at her face for some clue, his friend only looked amused before taking her hand away from him. When she faced him, she gave smile and stuck her tongue at him.

"You are such a boob, Spock."

Spock gave her his best you-are-being-illogical-and-it-is-not-becoming-of-you and proceed to walk on to the officer quarters. River laughed at his thoughts before turning back to the female dorms. She could see a curtain move as if someone was hiding and snickered.

She had no idea just who she should feel sorry more, the boob who was still denying his attraction or the girl who just realized that she liked her instructor more than she should!

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Sorry for the long wait, but I had finals and then my wisdom teeth were removed - all four of them. Let me tell you, anyone who wants to be a vampire are frakkin' idiots.

I had a hard time writing this chapter since I want to start on the movie plot, but I know I need to pace this just right so it doesn't seem like it was done in a hurry.

Sanosh rubai kup-pitoh Eingelsu - Pleasure change the notes to English

Sanoi - Please

Yeah, I had Uhura mess that up since they were pretty close together and it was funny.

Everyone, thank Dhoom2 music soundtrack because this chapter would not have made it without it.


	9. Chapter 8: Vacation

Once again, I like to thank everyone for your reviews. While not all of you do review, I do love the feedback that I'm getting. Plus I'm happy with the amount of traffic here. For those of you that do not, I guess I need to work on my writing better to get you to. 

A Reader in the Stars

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Chapter Eight: Vacation

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Taking in a deep breath, River could smell the hot ground and the warm wind that surrounded her. Looking around, she could see brownish red lands of cliffs, mountains, and ridges with sparse bits of grass life. The world was still in a peace that she could not tell if she was truly among an alien race as she was now. She felt stifled by the heavy clothing that was given to her, but it helped protect her from getting her skin chapped by the sun and the wind.

Vulcan looked like an outer rim planet back in her days in Serenity; however the temperature was almost torture. River felt like cursing Spock for mentioning the difference in temperature as manageable. She wanted to wear fun loose clothing and a swimsuit, however that would be considered an insult to her hosts and River still had a slight wariness for pissing people off like the Captain did.

The term had finished with good memories of Cadet Sulu finally getting the guts to talk to her outside of class. The Japanese male had asked to spar with her and then offer to take her out to a ballet to see Swan Lake. She agreed, but with Cadet Chekov and Spock the former happy chatting away that Swan Lake was practically born from Russia and the later appreciated the music although did not like the crowd. Cadet Sulu's thoughts were not disappointed in the lack of a date atmosphere; in fact, he made good friends with Chekov over the difference of having a fencing scene inserted in one of the acts.

Chekov was still a teenager who did like to see some excitement.

Spock did not grow warm towards Cadet Sulu, however withheld his lectures until both cadets were out of hearing range. He did however admit that Cadet Sulu's advances were practically minuscule.

The situation between Cadet Uhura and Spock barely changed. In fact, it seems that Uhura was trying to place herself at the top of the class in River's and Spock's. She did get the top spots and River had to stop herself from laughing at the conflicting thoughts in her head. Poor girl was trying to fight against her jealousy of the relationship between River and Spock.

Of course, it did not help that River was making everything worse by being touchy feely with her friend. Spock only commented once that her affections were increasing but did nothing to discourage the contact. He found the mental link between them to be useful especially when it come down to the more illogical students hovering around them.

"I better be nicer to Cadet Uhura next time." River mused to herself. Personally, she thought that Uhura would be good for Spock. The cadet was understanding, intelligent, and compassionate like Inara and there was a bit of bad-ass attitude that reminded her of Zoe. Uhura would know when to push and when to pull back with Spock and from her thoughts, she saw Spock as a person, not a hybrid.

"And who is Cadet Uhura?" a pleasant female voice inquired behind her.

River lazily turned to face a human female dressed in Vulcan clothing who was about her height. This was Amanda Grayson, Spock's mother. There was no doubt that this older woman was a beauty in her younger years and the laugh lines and crinkles around her mouth and eyes proved her to have a happy disposition. There was something so warm about this woman that River could not help but lean towards her.

Amanda's thoughts were so vibrant with love and compassion of her son and her husband. River enjoyed the feeling very much as it reminded just a little of her own mother. However, River had no doubt that Amanda would have done everything to ensure that Spock would be safe from crazy government agents. There was a sense of justice in her that was similar to Simon's, something that Spock lacked a bit. She could see how Sarek fell in love with her despite the alien differences.

"She's this woman who I keep teasing. She's very beautiful and extremely intelligent. She's planning for the communications track in Starfleet." River replied and offered her hands to Amanda. The older woman smiled and clasped their hands together.

"And why do you tease her so much?" Amanda asked as she swung their clasped hands as she looked out into the world.

"Because, she's in love with Spock and he doesn't realize it yet." River whispered in glee. Her companion laughed at that and the two began to twirl around in a dizzying circle.

Spock had suggested that River joined him to Vulcan during the break since everyone else that they knew were going home. Chekov was excited about going home to Russia and promised that he would comm as much as possible. Sulu was going to Japan to visit some relatives and Uhura was planning on visiting home herself before going to join up with a group in helping with recruitment for Starfleet.

River, not wanting to be stuck with boring people, said yes.

The travel to Vulcan did not take too long with a warp drive and the two were greeted by Spock's parents and other Vulcans who did not show their shock of the human friend that had appeared. River had to control herself from grabbing Spock's hand for security because she did not want to cause humiliation for her friend.

Once settled, Spock had explained about River's abilities and she was allowed to be herself around Spock. However she was careful not to show her touching in front of the guests who appeared during the mealtimes and who came to visit. Whenever they converse with her, she could feel them testing her intelligence and their slight disappointment that she did not stumble and proved that the human race was inferior.

For Amanda, it was love at first sight to see the willowy young woman beside her son. Her first impression was that Spock had found love. However, once Spock introduced River as a friend and only as a friend, she had made the girl a part of the family. River was like the daughter she always wanted. The girl teased Spock and they debated and argue like siblings. She even had Sarek regard her with some fondness; however it was only shown by the small nod of his head whenever he saw the girl.

"Mother, River. I suggest that you cease your frolicking before you make yourselves ill."

The two females stopped their playing to see Spock approaching towards them. River pouted while Amanda smiled and they joined Spock.

"What's going on this time? Dinner isn't until another couple hours." River inquired as skipped ahead towards the home of Sarek.

"I have received orders from Starfleet about a mission before the start of the next term and it is believed that I must leave in two days time." Spock explained. Amanda looked up in worry at this while River frowned.

"They're working you too hard. You're already covering for two different departments and now they want you to check communication comms and systems for a Star base? You're not their janitor." River grumbled.

"The Star base is located in the middle of Delta quadrant and is relatively safe in Federation space. There is no need for worry about being overworked, River. I've been reassigned to concentrate in the communications department. We have new personnel to cover the rest of my former duties." Spock replied with neutrality in the air.

"I do wish you could stay a few days more." Amanda mused sadly. Spock's eyes soften and he clasped his mother's free hand.

"I apologize, mother. However I have duties to Starfleet that cannot be ignored, no matter what River believes."

River stuck her tongue at that.

"Fine, I won't complain any more. I guess that means I need to start packing and do some shopping."

"There is no need for you to leave as well. I am sure that you are still welcome to stay for the rest of the break if you wish it." Spock said with a small amount of concern. River shook her head at that.

"I better leave. The people here are polite enough, but I like to see something other than rock. Besides, it's a good excuse to go on a road trip by myself since you find the idea to be irrational." River teased. Amanda smiled at that.

"I do wish you could stay, but you are only young once in your life. I remembering going on trips when I was younger. Where would you go?" Spock's mother asked gently. River pondered on that before an answer came to her.

"South. I'll head down south. I grew up with family who had a Southern accent and I miss that. Plus, I heard the food is good."

"Oh! I know what you mean! If you're going to travel in the United States, go down to Mississippi or Georgia! They have a wonderful selection of food there. I remember eating a pecan pie that made me melt." Amanda said with a dreamy smile.

"Mother I highly doubt a pastry consisting of high fructose syrup and animal lipids would make you melt from consumption." Spock admonished drily.

"Boob." River hissed before she gave a nod to Amanda. "I'll go check into that."

"Well, before you all leave me here with only my loving husband; let us go on a picnic. There is this wonderful spot with enough shade for us to enough cloud watching." Amanda said and all three went back inside.

***

"It's funny that the sky seems so much alike here despite the color."River mused out loud from her spot in the convertible. Two days have passed since she left Vulcan and rented a nice red convertible. The top was down and she had pulled up to the side of the road to enjoy some take-out for lunch. She had received a comm an hour ago from Spock about the progress being done about the Star base. Apparently everything was going according to schedule and he would so be back in time for the next term.

Chekov was still in Russia and was jealous that she was driving around the country. She promised that next term he would go with her to anywhere he wanted. He spent the next hour chatting just where he wanted to go. Sulu gave her holopics of Japan and promised to give her a bonsai of miniature maple forest trees when he came back. He was delighted with the holovids of Klingon weaponry that she gave him from the museums in Vulcan. Uhura had commed a few times but she was getting ready to join Pike in the recruiting program and had to keep it short.

Pike commed once and had asked her to join him in Iowa to see the construction of the Enterprise once her trip was finished. River promised that she would join up with him on the day of departure to San Francisco.

She tuned the radio on and a loud country like song filled the air. River could remember the times in the mule when she went with Captain, man-ape, and Zoe to a job. They were always quiet except of the hum of the engine and there was no music to play.

Briefly, River wondered just what she was doing in this world. There was nothing but a normal life for her here. Back in her own world, she was the pilot and she had family who needed her. True, the food was boring and plain and man-ape was a pain in the ass, but it was home. A ship that was always in the black and money thin but still plentiful for their needs was a life that she had treasured a long time ago.

"I'm being selfish. I want my family here." She muttered and put her food away. Slipping back into the driver seat, she turned the car on and raced down the empty road. It would take her another day to reach Mississippi and the delicious food that Amanda had promised that would be there.

Besides, she could feel something pulling towards that direction.

***

The south east of the United States was nothing that River expected. It was color, life, and noise that differ from the noise of the places that Captain had taken her to before. Everywhere she went, people were greeting her and celebrating something.

In Mississippi, she came across a parade and enjoyed the candy that was thrown out even though she knew her brother would have been horrified at the idea of her eating candy from the ground. Then there were the restaurant s and the cafés full of spicy dishes that made her mouth water.

At night she spent time in the streets looking at the market and dancing to the music played by musicians of all sorts. She even received a few coins for her dancing. The city was gorgeous at night and she found a bluff high enough for her to enjoy the view until she went back to the motel.

She tried the pecan pie and agreed with Amanda that it was good enough to make a person melt despite what Spock says about high fructose and animal lipids.

It was another three days of good food, dancing, and sightseeing that she came across something interesting.

River was done with her night shopping and was passing a bar when someone stumbled against her.

The person was a tall male figure who smelled like he bathed in alcohol. It reminded her of man-ape. Steadying the man, she looked up to a face unshaven for a few days and bloodshot eyes. There was a powerful feeling of anger, guilt, and self-worthlessness that made her read his mind.

_No good. No where to go. Nothing left here._

Touching his face, she could read what happened to this man. He was a good man and worked hard for his family, but nothing came from it. Now he had no family and no self-respect for himself. There was nothing for this man to do other than to sink as low as he could go.

A retch and the smell of vomit filled the air. River wince as she could feel something slimy hit her sandaled feet. This man had just thrown up on her feet.

"You okay there, miss?" a voice called out.

River turned to see an elderly woman walked up to her with a cane to help. She was a black elderly woman who began to shake her head at the man in her arms.

"No good. Poor man has been suffering and only God can show him the way to the light."

"You know him, ma'am?" River asked politely.

"Call me Mabel. He's a good one, that man. Come with me. My home is only a couple blocks down the road and a good walk will help. Come child." Mabel said and she walked ahead. River stared at her curiously and then began to drag her burden.

At least she wouldn't have to pay an extra room for this man.

***

Mabel's house was an old two story white house that looked like it was three hundred years old or at least it looked like it. There was a little garden in the front that looked simple and well kept. A white picket fence completed the homely look to the property and River found herself liking the place. It was nothing like she had ever seen in her life.

They enter the house from the kitchen side and Mabel led River into the living room where the man was dumped onto a sofa on his side with a blanket covering him. River stayed by to make sure that he did not choke during his rest and Mabel went back into the kitchen to make something to drink or eat.

The elderly woman came back with tray of food and cups. River quickly went into the kitchen to get the tea kettle that was about whistle and returned with it to the living room. Mabel gave a nod of thanks as she set everything up.

"Knew that boy from the moment he was born. Good boy that he was. Smart one too. Only stupid when it came to love." Mabel began as she offered a cup of steaming tea to River.

"Isn't everyone stupid when it comes to love?" River asked with a smile and accepted the offer. Mabel cracked a smile at that.

"Love makes fools of us all. He's a McCoy. That family has been passionate about everything they can get their minds to. That one is a doctor and the best that I've heard. Spent half of his life in a hospital saving the lives of everyone."

River looked back at the drunken man and pursed her lips. While she knew that this man was a doctor, it was difficult to grasp someone who reminded her of man-ape as a doctor. Although she did give him credit that he did not look stupid while sleeping like Jayne did.

"So what made a good doctor fall?" she asked and nibbled on a cookie. Mabel sighed and sipped more tea.

"Got married with no pre-nup, that's what made him fall. Worked hard for his family and got a wife not happy with her life. Got a divorce and she ends up with everything but the cloths on his back. They got a nice baby girl between them and he's been a good father. Too bad the wife got the girl too." Mabel replied with a sad sigh.

Touching a lock of hair, River contemplated on this odd man. He was a family man with no family. A man who lost everything and has no way to start again.

"I knew a man of the cloth once." River murmured without taking her eyes off of the man. "He saw many bad things and turned to God the minute he could. There were times that he had trouble, but he kept on believing and to others to believe."

"That, child, is faith. God works in many different ways that we can never understand completely. Sometimes it's not God we need to believe in, it's the people we are in the inside. God believes in us all, we just need to believe in ourselves." Mabel said wisely. The young woman looked at the elderly one with respect.

"You know. I never understood the concept of religion. I was fourteen when I tried to correct that man's Bible. I believed at that time that it was flawed."

Mabel gave out a loud laugh at that.

"Child, nothing is wrong with the Bible. Its how it's read makes it flawed or not. Now, what's a young thing like you helping out a drunken man and old woman here?"

River then began to explain how she was a commander in Starfleet and she wanted to see the sights before the next term start. Mabel drew into the conversation quickly about the places that River visited and discussed how different everything was back in the days when she was a child. They discussed about the food and how food replicators were ruining everything. River admitted to eating anything as long as it didn't taste like mush and Mabel scold her for not having some standards.

"Not having standards on what you eat is the same as having no standards in men. They go side by side, child. Being picky is good because once you pick your piece, you stick with it. No second guessing nonsense that you young people are good at these days."

They talked more and River made sure that the man was kept comfortable enough. Mabel soon grew weary and had to sleep and invited River to go up stairs and take a bed once she needs to sleep. River assured her that she would do so as soon she felt tired.

For a long time, River stared at the man, McCoy, and wondered what would happen to him. She traced his brow, smoothing the wrinkles and read some of the memories that gathered into his mind. This man was a genius in the medical field like Simon was. So smart and so humane. From his memories she could feel a very strong sense of justice that was similar to the Captain's and it nearly blew her away. He was the type of man who stuck to his promises and would be the first to admit his mistakes, defiantly not like the Captain.

Then an idea came into her mind. It was something so harebrain that she knew that it was a good idea. After all, Captain Malcom's best ideas were the craziest.

***

Leonard H McCoy groaned in from the pain in his head and light was the piercing into his eyes. He could hear an odd hum and loud country music. He also felt that he was currently sitting and not lying down. That was a good thing. At least he knew he had not died from aspiration over night.

However, he soon began to feel more awake as he noticed that he felt the wind blowing against his face. And the humming was turning to a roar of an engine. He could smell gasoline and a light flowery scent in the air.

"You're not dreaming and you're in a car." A young female voice stated. That woke him up real fast. Did he get so drunk that he hired a prostitute to drive him around? "I'm not a prostitute. I'm a kidnapper."

"Holy shit!" McCoy roared and opened his eyes to look around for the first time.

He was currently sitting in the passenger side of a red convertible that was going in speeds that he was sure was illegal. From the look of the scenery, it seems that they were going north and towards the Midwest part of the United States. The driver was a pretty young thing that was a least ten years his junior. Was she old enough to drive this thing?

"Yes, I'm old enough. You need to eat something. Miss Mabel gave us a basket of food when we left. She's wishing you luck at your new job." The girl said as she reached out behind her seat and pulled out a good old fashion wicker basket. "Of course you're going to need to take a couple of classes, but you're smart and you'll pass them."

"Wait one minute, young lady. First off, who the hell are you and why did you kidnap me?" McCoy demanded. The girl gave him a looked that stated he was moron and grabbed something from the basket. It was a cinnamon bun with thick white icing. She shoved it in his mouth and licked the excess icing from her fingers.

"I'm your friend and you're going to Starfleet."

McCoy, finding the bun delicious, took a bite and pulled the rest out of his mouth. He took his time in chewing before he began to talk again.

"Hell no! I'm a doctor not an astronaut, dammit!"

"Starfleet needs doctors in space. Plus its medical field is one the largest in the universe. There are plenty of medical discoveries out there in the making. You can be one of them. You are one of the best and Starfleet won't say no to you."

"I'm too old! You young things can go out there in the darkness and death of space, but I belong here on Earth!" he snapped back.

The girl stopped the car and then tuned to face him. She stared at him with her big brown eyes and it felt like she was seeing everything about him. About his life and his failures that he often tried to forget about in his lapses of alcohol.

"You don't have anywhere else to go. You have no property, no family, and a reputation as a drunk. What you do have is your legs, mind, and a chance to make a new life. Earth doesn't need you here. Starfleet needs you. You can help out more there then being drunk here."

For a long time McCoy looked down at his hands. What the girl said was true, although he wonder just how she knew about his life, he had nothing here. He did not even have his baby girl to call his own legally. His town turned their back against him when the divorce came through and he did nothing to stop it. By rights he could not even call himself a man. The girl's eyes soften and she reached out and cupped his stubble cheek.

"Make something for yourself and you'll get her back someday. She's waiting for you."

With that said the girl turned the engine on and raced away down the road. McCoy finished his bun and looked through the basket to find sausage rolls, scones, more buns, turnovers, and a thermo of strong coffee. He ate about half of that before his stomach began to stretch and he sipped his coffee slowly. Now that he was awake, he found the speed to be comforting and the music a lullaby.

"Space is still a vast thing of death, darkness, diseases and madness." He grumbled as his eyes began to close shut. The girl laughed at that.

"But it's still home when you have family."

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Dear god! I finished off another chapter! I hope you like how I introduced McCoy into the plot.

Yes, peoples, the movie plot is beginning to start now! Or at least a little bit.

The next chapter is going to be another River's musings so hope you'll enjoy that one too. It's going to more on the Firefly part then the Star Trek part.


	10. River's Musings 2

I don't remember the first time I met Captain Malcom Reynolds.

For some reason it felt like he was always there in my mind when I lived in Serenity. Captain Reynolds was the soul of Serenity. As long as he was captain of that ship, nothing would bring her down for long. Simon did not like him because Reynolds was not an authority figure that he could respect. Sometimes it seems like the entire crew could not respect him at times.

However I knew in my shattered mind, Captain Malcom Reynolds will always pull through for Serenity.

His nickname Mal was the Latin word for bad.

Bad things have happen to him. He lost a war against a government he would never support for. There were so many bodies of good people who died and were under his protection. There times that he was willing to suffer but had to watch others suffer the same.

He hates pain.

That was something that was funny to me. A man willing to throw down his life for a cause hates pain like a baby. Inara often enjoys poking at a bruise and he would yelp like a dog. He bitches like one too.

On Unification Day, he always gets into a fight. While everyone else is glorifying the Alliance, he thinks of only one battle that made the difference. He can see the blasts, hears the screams, and remembers that he survived while thousands perished during the aftermath.

Inara often thinks of him as a selfish brute with the brain of a walnut and the manners of pig. Zoe sometimes thinks that the Captain has a few loose screws and was too easy going at times. Wash had always been jealous of the Captain because he had Zoe with him longer than his own marriage. Man ape Jayne doesn't think much unless he finds something that seems unfair. Book used to keep talking to Mal about faith and leading him on the right direction. Kaylee always thinks that Mal is a good man while Simon sometimes thinks he's out of his gorram mind.

Despite how many bad points there are, I know that I would always follow him to the end. And I know that he trusts me despite how the cards are stacked against me.

I would follow him to the end because I know that he would always come back for me.

Now I have no captain to follow. I am now studying a PADD and passing as many tests as possible to earn a place here in Starfleet.

I wonder if Captain is getting on fine without me there to back him up. He needs someone to trade looks when man ape is saying something stupid because Zoe will ignore it. He needs someone to assure Simon that the job wasn't as dangerous as it seems and that the bullet hole is only a flesh wound. He needs someone to pilot the Serenity because his skills suck.

No. That isn't right. I need him.

I need him with me when we go out on a job. I need him to believe that everything is going to be shiny because we have each other's backs. I need him to come for me and take me home.

I hope that in the future, whatever that whisked me to this world would take me back home.

Serenity is not her without Mal and Mal is not without Serenity.

The Vulcans got that right at least in this place.

Serenity in Vulcan is mol-kom.

It is not the same, but it sounds similar. I like that.

Malcom is Serenity.

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I got the idea from Deep Space Nine. I think it's pretty cool that the Vulcan word of serenity is similar to Malcom's name.

The next chapter is going to be what most of you are waiting for!


	11. Chapter 9: Meetings and Greetings

All right people, this is what you been waiting for. At least I think it's what you been waiting for.

Disclaimer: Really, don't see the point for these things since with the Internet anyone can look up and see that Firefly and Star Trek isn't mine. Frakkin' geniuses.

A Reader in the Stars

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Chapter Nine: Meetings and Greetings

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McCoy grumbled when the girl (still did not know her name) stopped at a shopping center. Her response to his grumbling was that he threw up on her shoes. That shut him up for a minute. At least she hadn't demanded that he paid for a new pair. Settling in his seat, he closed his eyes and was determine for a two hour nap when he felt someone pull him up.

Looking up, it was the girl who had a good grip on his arm and was giving him a look that said he was going to go too.

"Hell no. I'm a doctor, not a mule. You go and do your shopping. I'm staying right here."

The girl pursed her lips before, in a flurry of movement, McCoy found himself outside of the car and on his ass.

"Come on. You need to stretch your legs out." She said calmly and then hauled him to his feet. The girl was pretty strong for a little thing. He obeyed. There was no point if this girl was going to kick his ass around for not doing what she wanted.

She led him straight into the heart of the place without pausing to look at a map or even to ask anyone for a location to buy shoes. The girl must have done this a dozen times or so.

"Been here a lot then?" he asked drily as he noticed the looks that some of the people were giving him. He knows that he was not the best looking man around, but he was pretty sure that they were staring at his poor appearance. Screw them, it's not like they had to live on the clothes of their backs.

"First time. I shop at the coast." Came the answer and she grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a tiny shop that he vaguely remembered from his ex-wife was some top of the line expensive brand. He could see the personnel giving them dirty looks. While the girl did not look like a washed up drunk, she was a far cry from some of the shoppers with their expensive clothes and designer purses.

She ignored them all and went straight to one pair of sandals. Taking the display, she studied it for a minute for before going to another pair. The process was repeated a couple more times before she finally took a box underneath one display of black leather sandals with a two inch heel and marched up to the counter. Flashing a credit chip, she gave the cashier a bored look. The chip went through the machine and she took it back and pulled the sandals out of the box.

"Let's go." She said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the store. Looking back, he could see the cashier looking bewildered with an empty box on the counter. McCoy couldn't blame the girl. That was the quickest shopping trip in the history of womanhood. "Not finished. We need stuff for you."

"Now wait a damn minute! I'm not your dam-oww!" he yelped when he felt pain coming from his pinky. The little chit was giving him her you're-stupid look.

"You don't have anything. You can't survive on with clothes smelling like booze. You need some new clothes, some toiletries unless you want to share with your roommate, maybe even some toys. Boys like toys or something like that. Wash had dinosaurs. We need to get some." She muttered and dragged McCoy to another direction.

They spend the next three hours shopping for him. The little mite forced him to try on piles of clothes at a time before she was satisfied with a few shirts and pants. Then they went to look at shoes and bought him three pairs. She wanted to get him five, but he managed to stop her from doing that. Soon they stopped at a shop that sold men toiletries and she got him the necessities of hair care, shaver, and others. While star ships have sonic showers, the academy still has the water ones.

The last two shops were a toy store and one shop that sold luggage. She had bought one medium size suitcase and a small set of dinosaur toys. They were the cheap kind that was made out of plastic and were in a set of vibrant colors and patterns. Unlike the ones with the holovids and the robotic ones, she explained that the good old fashion toys were more fun.

"I can do more with them without stupid bits of machinery to mess it up." Was her explanation to his silent question. McCoy kept wondering just how this girl was able to figure out what he was thinking, but he chalked it up to the look on his face. The cashier at the toy counter had the exact same face that he had- he was sure of it.

Lunch was spent at the food court where the girl had ordered a selection of hamburgers, fries, and sodas. McCoy could now confirm that the girl stayed skinny by metabolism only since her portions of the meal were just as large as his own. Taking a bite of his own, his tongue danced to the juicy combination of beef, ketchup, mustard, mayo, onion, tomato, lettuce, and pickles. The fries were made just right, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. A large slurp of his soda proved that it was made from a mix of syrup and carbonated water.

"At least you managed to find someplace with decent food." He grumbled as he finished his burger. She gave a nod at that.

"I need to have standards on food. Miss Mabel says so."

"Miss Mabel? How'd you know her?" he asked curiously with a smirk.

"She witnessed you throwing up on my feet."

McCoy winced at that.

"Not one of my finest moments. How long until we reach Starfleet anyways? It's a long stretch of land between here and the coast."

"Only another day of driving for you. There's going to a recruitment crew with one of the personnel there that I know. He'll take you there. I still have a road trip to finish." was the answer.

"Road trip? Normally those things going along with friends miss."

"My friends are busy. Two of them are out of country, the other is part of the recruitment group so you'll see her, and my best friend is stuck in a star base on the Delta quadrant. I don't want to spend time with boring people. Plus, you're funny." The girl replied with a smile.

He blinked at the answer. Was that a good thing or a bad thing that young girls think that a twenty-eight year old was amusing fun.

"You remind me of this man ape, the man they called Jayne." She said with a giggle. McCoy's lips curled in a snarl. "He was crude, arrogant, ignorant, and loved guns and women in two ways. Loose and fast."

"Listen here missy! You've only met me just last night. What gives you the right to-"

"I said you remind me of him. The two of you have the same build, height, and coloring. Your accent is slightly different then his but similar. But I know you're not the same and that's what makes it funny. Any good he does is purely accidental. You'll always be hero." The girl said with a soft smile.

For a moment, he felt his breath taken away from the sight. She was a pretty thing and if he were younger, he would try his hand at flirting. But he was older and supposedly wiser. No decent young thing would want a broken man for a first love or any love. Picking up his trash and dumping it on the tray, he put his mind to other things.

"You finished? We need to get a move on if you want me to do this Starfleet gig." He muttered. The girl's smile widens and she quickly placed her trash onto the tray.

"Thank you kind sir." She said with a perfect Southern drawl. He gave a grin that felt almost foreign on his face.

"You're mighty welcome, ma'am."

***

The rest of the trip was silent except for the music. They made stops at small roadside diners and gas stations. River had provided McCoy a PADD to keep him occupied while she spent her free time to comm her friends. Spock had already returned from his job at the star base and had been trying to convince River that if would be beneficial if she just came back with Pike.

She only promised him that she would think about it. To be honest, she wanted to see if McCoy would be okay once he reached San Francisco. The poor man needed a friend to help him out if only to prevent him from becoming a hermit. Plus, it would be good idea to catch up with Pike.

Her talk with Sulu consists of his family and the classes that he was planning on taking for the next term. He was going to be back to the academy in a couple of days and he was hoping that she, Spock, and Chekov would hang out one last time before classes start.

Chekov had chatted happily with her on a possible dissertation on some topic or another and wanted her input on some of sources that he found. He expressed great joy on the possibility of celebrating their return before the term started.

Her comm with Uhura was short and to the point. It was hard to make friends with someone who had a grudge against you.

"So, are you a cadet at the academy and needed credit to recruit a doctor?" McCoy asked during one of their stops for food.

"Nope." River answered before she dug into her macaroni and cheese. Licking the excess cheese, she chewed quickly before she went on. "I'm on vacation. I recruited you out of luck."

McCoy snorted at that before he took a chuck of his steak and devoured it. For some reason, the places she picked end up being ones with decent food. His steak was grilled just right with mushroom gravy and caramel onions.

"You got connections there or something?"

River nodded her answer and took a big gulp of lemon iced tea.

"Best friend is a commander and I know some of the recruiters. He always says that we need more doctors instead of star struck cadets interested in the glory of Starfleet. While you were sleeping it off, I read a few of your papers of on the ethics of graphing xeno cells with human tissues. Your work had an amazing amount of research on several alien races and their biology for a small country doctor. You also have a strict ethics code that Starfleet finds rare in a science broad education. You think every patient as a person, not a species. Starfleet needs that."

The man felt his cheeks flush at the compliment. He had been always congratulated as a genius in the medical field on breakthrough work and research. People commented on his dedication and his workaholic attitude, but no one had ever mentioned his ethics and manners.

They kept silent after that and River paid for the meal like she did with everything else. She hoped that McCoy would not get all noble about paying her back. Sometimes it good karma to help someone out no matter the cost.

***

It was nearly seven in the evening when they reached the small town in Iowa that was three miles away from the site where the Enterprise was being built. McCoy only mentioned that it would years before anyone would get him to set foot on a star ship. That was when River told him that they would take a shuttle for the rest of the trip.

Seeing the man freak out was just as fun as freaking out man ape.

After setting up a room in a small motel for him, they parted ways with River threatening to wake him up with he did not show up in the morning. McCoy went straight to the nearest store that sold liquor and River went around searching for Pike.

She found him at the site of the star ship looking over the mass of construction with pride in his eyes.

"It's too big." River said and slid up beside him. Pike gave a grin at her.

"She's going to be going on a five year trip, commander. She needs the bulk. How was your road trip?"

"Fun. Ate a lot of good food and danced. Picked up a good doctor too. Bet you didn't find anyone better." River replied with a smirk. Pike's eyebrow went up in surprise.

"A doctor? You didn't kidnap them did you?"

"Just away from his plan to drink his life away. He's qualified to start working for Starfleet now with just a few courses or so. He might even get interested in studying some other courses that would expand his knowledge." River answered smugly. Pike whistled at that.

"So you managed to pick a professional down on his luck? Lucky. I got kids who want in for the uniform and a chance to go up in space. Hopefully we'll make something out of them. Have you had dinner?" he asked.

"Not hungry. We just ate before we reached here. There's this nice little place that made this delicious apple pie topped with a sprinkle of fresh cheese about twenty or so miles from here. They also had a good recipe of macaroni and cheese."

"You know, your ability is being wasted on your frivolous quest for good food." Pike muttered as his stomach growled from hunger.

After catching up on each other's lives for the next half hour, River went back to town while Pike ordered someone to get some take out for the rest of the crew. She checked on McCoy to see that he was drinking himself under but the reason was a decent on. He was drinking to forget about tomorrow's flight with a shuttle and she could accept that. She comm Spock and told him that she was going to join everyone else back the academy.

"Because you're my best friend and you're bored without me." She declared. Spock raised an eyebrow at her declaration.

"I am not bored, River. I am merely concern for your well being in arriving in a timely manner. It would do no one any good if you arrived late and are unable to do your duties as an educator."

"Boob. Cadet Uhura is nearby. Is there anything you want me to say for you?" River taunted. Spock gave near silent snort and his eyes narrowed just two millimeters.

"I will see the two of you tomorrow. There is no need to pass any form of communication when we are to meet so soon."

"Shy boob. The regulations may say no on dating but it doesn't hurt to be friendly. We could ask her to join us on our little gathering at Shiao Giah. Cadet Sulu and Cadet Chekov will be there so it won't look like you're trying to date her." River drawled with a roll of her eyes.

"If you wish for her to join us, then that is your choice. I will see you tomorrow at 1000."

That was the end of their conversation. River shook her head at Spock's denial. He could say that he was keeping a professional distance between his commander status and not taking advantage of their cadets. River knew that his attraction to Uhura was serious enough for him to use his own friend to set up a meeting outside of campus.

She checked on McCoy one last time to see that he was dozing on the bed. Reading his sleeping mind, she figure that he had about a bottle worth of bourbon in his system and was not in any danger of dying through the night. Pulling the blanket over his slumbering body, she combed his hair away from his face.

Funny, his hair was like the Captain's.

Closing the door behind her, River took the time to expand her mind out to the thoughts in the air. Shifting through them, she easily found where Cadet Uhura was and the rest of the cadets that Pike brought with him. It wouldn't hurt to extent her invitation now. After all, Spock was unintentionally counting on her.

Walking through the night, she took her time getting to the small bar when she felt Uhura's thoughts in a panic. Worried, River rushed into the bar, yanking the door and nearly ripped it from its hinges.

The scene before was something that she was used to- a bar fight. A quick assessment showed that four cadets were fighting against one young man. Receiving all the thoughts she saw the scene as if she were there. Apparently the young man was hitting on Uhura and one the cadets punched him. Zeroing in on the large cadet, she scowled. It was one the idiots who actually passed her class. However, she needed to stop this right now.

One cadet had a beer bottle and was aiming it on the prone man's face when she grabbed his wrist and twisted it and the body to the floor. She was about to say something when she stopped another cadet's punch with her other hand. Apparently this one she had never seen before. Hooking one of her legs against his, she yanked and then jumped kick the idiot in the middle. Someone grabbed her from behind, trapping her arms to her side. Rolling her eyes, she bent forwards before snapping her head back and her skull meet a soft crunch of a nose breaking. Once the restraint lacked, she grabbed the arms that originally held her and threw the idiot over her shoulder. It was the idiot who started the whole mess.

Looking over to the last cadet, she smirked as he stood still. She could hear his thoughts that were in panic and fear. He knew just who she was and what it would cost for the three to attack a senior officer.

A loud whistle pierced the air. Looking over to the door, she saw that Pike and some of the crew stood there. Pike looked at the whole scene and then scowled.

"All of you, out. We'll discuss this as soon as Commander Tam reports to me just what the hell happened." He ordered. Many of the cadets paled as they realized the young female looking civilian was actually one of their commanding officers. Uhura gave a look over to River who just gave a wink. She would invite Uhura in the morning.

As the cadets rush quickly out of the bar, the young man who was currently sprawled on a table gave a bloody grin.

"You whistle really loud." He commented. River giggled at that. Then the young man lifted his head up a couple inches to look at her. "And you kicked ass."

Pike sighed and shook his head while River's giggles turned in laughter. There was something funny about this young man. She walked over to lean forward until their foreheads were touching and their breaths were mixing. She could smell the scent of booze, blood, sweat, and something that was engine grease mixed with a scent that she could only describe as male.

He was damn good looking and shiny.

"Kid, don't even think about it." Pike warned the young man who looked like he wanted to close the distance between their lips. "She's too young for you."

River pulled away to pout at Pike.

"I'll be eighteen soon." She grumbled. The young man gave a grin at that as she pulled him up from his sprawl on the table. He leaned against her and whispered to call him when she does. Giggling, River poked a bruise that she knew he was feeling and he hissed.

"So mind telling what happen here?" Pike asked looking over at River. She rolled her eyes.

"He," River pointed to the young man. "was hitting on Cadet Uhura when Cadet Matthews threaten him to leave. He insulted Matthews and Matthews punched him. That got him into fighting with another three cadets. I would have stopped them for good if you hadn't come in."

Pike snorted at that.

"Then I would have four incapacitated cadets and I would need to replace them, Tam. I think you smashed that one's nose too well."

"I brought the doctor, besides it's their fault for attacking me. They should have known better." River stated while she grabbed some napkins to help clean up the blood on the man's face.

"So who's our guest here today?" Pike asked nodding towards the young man.

"James Tiberius Kirk." River and James answered together. Both men blinked in surprise but for different reasons.

"Hey, how did you know?" James asked frowning.

"George's kid?" Pike asked with shock.

River rolled her eyes at the two.

"You're the talk of the town." She told James. It was true, everyone in this town was thinking about this trouble maker, like the bartender there. Then she turned to Pike. "His father is George Kirk."

"Holy shit." Pike murmured. That got James to narrow his eyes.

"Yeah, so I'm the kid with the dead dad, what's it to you?"

Pike was silent for a moment before he looked over at River. She could read his silent request for to talk with James alone. She sighed and then began to walk slowly away.

"I'll see you later then Captain. Night Jim." She called out. She paused at the doorway when she read the thoughts that came from Jim. She giggled. Here was someone that man ape would appreciate when it came to women most of the time. Doing a pose that she often seen Inara do, she placed her hand on the door way and twisted her body so she could look over her shoulder. Placing her other hand on her hip she set her eyes at half mast and pursed her lips into a small smile.

That got the thoughts going from her legs around his hips to his hands in her hair. She held that pose before she collapsed into a laughing fit. Pike shook his head at her little act.

"Good night, Tam." Pike stressed.

This time she left with a wave of a hand.

***

McCoy was sleeping peacefully when she checked on him in the middle of night. Making sure that there was an empty bin in case he got the urge to throw up, she left to wander a bit. The night was cool for a late summer day and it was refreshing compared to the heat of the day. She noticed that the light in the bar was still on and she felt tormented thoughts of one James T. Kirk. Walking in the bar, she saw the bartender was still sweeping the broken glass and wood that were still scattered on the floor and that Jim was sitting at a table playing with a star ship shaped salt shaker.

Without saying anything, she sat at the empty chair across from him. She saw half empty glass of whisky and she sipped it. It was different from the stuff that Kaylee made but it was slightly weaker. She held the bit of whisky in her mouth feeling the heat before she swallowed it. It didn't burn as much and she was glad that it went down smoothly.

"I thought you were underage." The man teased half heartedly with a smirk. River raised an eyebrow like Spock does when he was faced with a stupid statement.

"I am." She answered and took another sip.

They sat there in silence. River began to read his thoughts about the conversation with Pike, about his father, his life, and why. What good reasons would there be to be in Starfleet that has done nothing for his family? Starfleet took his father's life, took his mother away from him and Sam, gave him a step father who could never understand, and left him nothing but a hole in his soul. Why the hell should he care?

For a moment, River could feel something familiar about this young man before her. There was something about him that reminded her of home. Reaching out, she took one his hands and squeezed it.

"I knew a man once. He used to be an idealist and a great solider. He never gave up. Even if the world was crashing down, he jumped in with guns a blazin'." River began with a small smile. Jim raised his eyebrows at that. He was thinking that Pike had told her to do some magic about recruiting him.

"So?"

"So, he lost everything one day. He lost many of his friends. He watched people he knew die slow deaths that they never deserved. He lost any trust he had for his ideals. All he had was one good friend, a few credits, and the clothes on his back. He had no one else to turn to. No one would help him."

She could tell that Jim was taking a slow interest in what she was saying. He still thought she was making up stories to get him to soften up.

"That man one day went to buy a ship. The dealer was showing him ships that were old but still serviceable and popular. But instead of buying one of the used still flashy ships, he chose an old nearly extinct model that wasn't even prettied up to be sold."

"That's moronic. What? He fell in love with it at first sight?" Jim mocked. River gave a smile at that.

"That's what happened. His friend called him an idiot for wasting credits on an old clunker that was going to cost more in repairs then the ship itself. But that man saw something in that ship that called out to him. He spent, borrowed, and even stole to get that ship to work. He found himself a pilot, a good mechanic who loved that ship as much as he did, and even found a doctor who kept the med bay to serviceable level. He gave that ship all the love he had and that ship gave back just as much. Do you know why?"

She now had his full attention. He was hypnotic about the story of the man and the ship. There was a fierce light in his eyes.

"Why?" he asked softly. His grip on her hand was tight.

"Because that ship was his and he was her captain. A pilot can maneuver her out of danger or get her to fly the best damn dive in the world. A mechanic can fix her and keep her in good working condition. But a captain? He does something that no one can do better. He loves her. He loves her because deep down she is a part of him and he is a part of her. No ship will ever forget their captain and no captain will ever leave her alone. Your father gave up his life to save those eight hundred lives. He didn't do it alone."

Pulling her hand away she could tell that what she said had affected badly enough that his hand was shaking. Quietly, she refilled his glass with the whisky.

"You have a choice here. You can stay here and live a decent life if you try. You can settle down and grow some roots. No one will blame you for it. It's a good life." She said softly. He looked down at the glass, but she pulled his chin up so she could stare into his intense blue eyes. "Or, you can get up and take the chance. Take the chance in getting your own ship and become her captain. You can find love with any organic being, but you rarely find love like being the captain of your own star ship."

With that, she left him sitting at the bar.

***

Morning came and River woke up groggily at 0700. She dressed quickly and then went into McCoy's room to wake him up. He smelled like booze and she shoved him in the shower, threatening that she would wash him up if he didn't get out in ten minutes. He managed with grumbling curses but her time limit didn't give him enough time to shave.

"We need to eat or at least you need to. All that bourbon isn't good for you if you didn't get that protein and vitamin C in you." She scolded.

"I'll probably throw it back up once the piece of tin starts flying." He muttered. She rolled her eyes at him before dragging him to the local diner.

The food was not as good as the other places, but the bacon was decent and so were the eggs. River ate a large breakfast while McCoy picked most of his food. She gave up in getting to eat and began to eat his portion as well. It was never good to waste food back home and she was not going to start now.

"You should eat as much as possible. You'll be stuck with crappy replicated food soon enough." She warned.

"As long as they can replicate acceptable booze, I could care less." McCoy retorted but forced himself to finish his eggs before River could.

They arrived at the docking port by the Enterprise by 0745. River made sure that McCoy's luggage and her own were in before forcing into the shuttle to take a seat. She took time to discuss with Pike about the possible punishments of the four cadets (which was suspension from going out of campus for the rest of the fall term) when she felt a buzz from a far.

It was a curious one of wariness and excitement. There was a sort of possessiveness tone as a flash of a constructing star ship filtered into her mind. Smiling, she looked up at Pike.

"Looks like that Kirk boy is signing up Starfleet."

A slow smile spread over Pike's face. River could see the hope and the pride on his face as a small figure came closer in a fast pace.

"I knew he would."

James T. Kirk rode his motorcycle close to the shuttle before handing the keys to a nearby crew member who admired it. Looking over where River and Pike stood, he nimbly walked up the steps to the shuttle.

"Four years? I'll do it in three." He promised arrogantly and winked at River. She gave him a smile and a nod while Pike shook his head.

"Get in there." He ordered. Jim entered into the shuttle and a few seconds later, Pike and River heard a loud bang.

"Ow!"

River laughed at that while Pike sighed before grinning at her.

"It's going to be exciting now." He said before shooing River inside.

***

River walked in and gave cold glares that had the injured cadets staring down at their feet.

"You're lucky that most of you have passed my course. Last night's incident would have guaranteed that you need to retake it. Let this be a lesson while you're stuck in the academy grounds for the rest of your fall term. Starfleet doesn't need people who start fighting against petty insults. Klingons and Romulans would have said worse and instead of being suspended, it would have caused your deaths and war for the Federation." She lectured. Once all four heads nodded, she left.

There were emotions of anger, injustice, and fear in all their thoughts but none would dare to go against her or Pike's decision.

Heading towards the cockpit, she came across a mess that was hilarious. McCoy apparently was hiding in the restroom stall and the attendant found him. The man was making a fuss out of his phobia and the intelligence of the attendant. River could feel that the patience of the woman was coming to an end.

"What seems to be the problem here?" River asked politely. The attendant looked over to her with a mix of relief and wariness while McCoy glared at her.

"She want me to sit here when I had a perfectly decent on in the stall where there aren't any windows." McCoy ranted.

Frowning, River motioned the attendant to move along before she leaned over at McCoy and maneuvered him to an empty seat. Placing her hand on his chest, she looked up at him. She could feel his heart pounding from the stress and that his thoughts had stilled to stare down at her.

"The stall doesn't have seatbelts. You'll bang your head against the wall and get a concussion. No one will be there to help you." She said with a pout. There was moment where he was caught off guard and River took that chance to sweep his feet under him and landed his butt on the seat. Before he could get up, she straddled his lap and quickly fastens the harness. "There. No point in getting out now."

Turning over to the side, she noticed Jim was the neighbor and he had a shit eating grin on his face. Reading his thoughts she shook her head at him.

"No, I won't do the same if you do that." She told him as she got up from a shocked McCoy. Jim gave a mocking sad look.

"Awww, how did you know? Besides, aren't you still a minor?" he teased. River bent down and patted his head.

"Worry about yourself and Uhura isn't going to give you her name." with that she skipped away.

"Does that mean you know it?!"

River was close to the cockpit when-

"DAMMIT! I'M A DOCTOR NOT SOMEONE WANTING A LAP DANCE!"

She laughed and closed the cockpit door.

******************************************************************

This is my longest chapter and I think it's my best one yet.

Shiao Giah – this is the name of the hot pot restaurant that River and Spock goes to. I figure to give the place a name.

As of right now, I'm confused on whom to pair River up with. So just for the heck of it, I'm going to have same interesting moments with River and the entire male cast with the exception of Pike, Nero, and Spock Prime.

It could be viewed as romantic but it's all going to be affectionate until I decided on the pairing.

Hope you love it and please review!


	12. Chapter 10: The Bugging Game

Man, that last chapter really took a lot out of me. I nearly cried when I read the part with Jim and River. Wow.

Disclaimer: you know who the series belong to. Definitely not me. Frak it.

A Reader in the Sky

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Chapter Ten: The Bugging Game

***********************************************************************

Jim chuckled in amusement at the guy's rant on him being a doctor and not some closet Lolita pervert. There was something so amusing about this Tam girl and it wasn't because she was easy on the eyes. Tam was easily the most interesting person that Jim had ever met in his life. Uhura was fun, but she was too serious and slightly disgusted with him (he did managed a nice three second feel on her rack- awesome) while Tam seemed to get him.

He briefly wondered where she heard that story of the guy and his ship. Maybe she made it up, but it did work. For once in his life, James T. Kirk was going to get what he should have gotten in the first place- his own star ship.

Looking over at the doctor who was now fidgeting, he wondered what was up with him. The guy was older and looked more like a hobo then a recruited. Then again, so did Jim. He just drove into the night without thinking before he decided to take the chance that was handed to him.

"God damn girl and her I-can-kick-your-ass attitude. I'm a grown man and I don't need to take this from her."

Jim quirked his eyebrow at that.

"So I take it you know her?" he asked grinning. The doctor scowled at him and narrowed his eyes.

"Damn girl kidnapped me and got me recruited when I was still out of it."

From the smell of booze, Jim had a good idea that Tam had gotten the good doctor to join up when he was drunk. Pressing his lips together, he could see it being done.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that these things are safe." Jim said offering some comforting words. The other man gave him a disgusted look.

"Safe? Let me tell you, kid. Just one tiny crack on the hull-"the doctor began. Then the shuttle suddenly shudder and Jim could feel if lift itself from the ground.

"Kinda of late now." He told the man cheerfully. He could see the doctor turn pale before he shut his eyes.

"Sorry, but I may throw up on you."

"You know, for someone entering into Starfleet, you sure don't seem to like flying." Jim mused.

"Well, got no place to go. Damn ex took the whole planet. Got nothing but my bones and the shit that girl bought for me." The man muttered before taking a small silver flask and took a large gulp from its contents. Then he handed the flask the Jim.

Taking it, he could tell that it wasn't whisky but bourbon. Taking his own mouthful he introduced himself to the odd man.

"Name is Jim Kirk. Thanks for the offer Bones."

Bones gave him a sour look and grabbed the flask back.

"Bones? What kind of name is that?"

"Yours until you tell me what it is."

"The name is Leonard McCoy."

"Bones it is." Jim concluded with a grin. Bones looked like he wanted to yell but seem to understand that there was no point in arguing. Taking a long drink from his flask, he glared over at the younger man.

"I don't like you."

"Aww, Bones! You'll love me."

***

River giggled and absently drummed her fingers on the dashboard. Beside her, the co-pilot glanced at her nervously before studying the controls. Pike only looked up from his PADD before he asked.

"What's making you happy, commander?"

"Your prize recruit and my doctor are becoming friends." She answered dreamily. He raised a brow at that. Jim, he imagine, could be charming if he didn't get cocky, but the doctor that he met this morning appeared to have an attitude of a hermit. "My doctor doesn't know it yet."

"Is that so?" Pike asked in good humor. She turned to face him and pouted.

"Yes. Your recruit won't be able to stay out of trouble, I know it. My doctor will save him all the time."

"Your doctor must have a secret identity as a saint. How is Spock?" Pike asked. Then noticing the nervous co-pilot, he silently ordered River to at least appear that she was paying attention.

"Bored." River answered with a sigh as she faced the front.

"I wasn't aware that Vulcans would admit such a state." He mused with a small smile.

"He was bored. Made up logical excuses on why I should return home with you instead of waiting for me in a few days."

Pike grinned at that. He was right about those two. Spock was someone that River could rely on and Spock had River to loosen up at least in River's presence. He did not believe in the rumors about them being a couple. If that were true, River and Spock would have been already married by Vulcan law.

"It would be in space." River blurted out loud. Pike looked up in surprise. "The wedding. It would be in space."

The co-pilot tried his best to ignore the laughing captain and the joke that was obviously missing something for him not to understand.

***

Uhura had finally brushed Kirk off (how the heck was she going to deal with him in the academy) when Commander Tam came up to her with a smile. Uhura smiled back however she was uncertain about this female who was technically younger than her and her superior.

Commander River Tam was the most popular commander to the cadets in Starfleet. Mostly it is due the fact that she's only seventeen or eighteen and already in a high level position. Not even Cadet Chekov would be a commander, just an ensign or a lieutenant when he graduates. There were even rumors that Commander Tam had tested out in everything and was awarded the position without taking a single class. Also, the male half of the cadets was crazy for the commander because she was pretty hot.

Everything about Commander Tam was practically perfect. She was one of the most intelligent beings to exist, a skilled hand-to-hand fighter, and she was very close friends to Commander Spock. They had to be very close with the amount of touching that Commander Tam does with Commander Spock in public.

Uhura knew Vulcan protocol. She knew that touching a Vulcan would be an insult due to their touch-telepathy and that they were private people. Originally, she had thought with Commander Spock's heritage of being only half human, he had grown up with human affection. However as she studied him longer, she concluded that Commander Spock had an attitude of a full blooded Vulcan and Commander Tam was special.

Personally, she did not know what she felt about the commander. While in class, the commander was professional and ruthless at times. She did not abide fools and Uhura respected that attitude. However it was the out of class experience with this commander that gotten her confused. Outside of the classroom, Commander Tam was simply charming and odd. She was always laughing or giggling about something.

Nothing seemed to surprise the commander from the cadet who had a legit excuse of losing his paper that she assigned to the idiot who tried to convince everyone that he was late because a commander asked for his help (Uhura enjoyed how Commander Tam ripped that idiot since it was discovered; later Uhura would love to know). There were even rumors about the commander having a special spy network and that the other professors and commanders were wary of it.

However, Uhura could not believe that. Commander Tam was independent with the exception of Commander Spock and she could not imagine the Vulcan to agree with a concept that would breach protocol.

"Cadet Uhura." Commander Tam greeted with a nod and an amused smile.

"Commander Tam. May I help you?" Uhura asked cautiously. The younger female's smile grew just a bit before it was suppressed.

"I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me and several other friends off campus tonight."

This invitation surprised Uhura. Rumors have it that the other friends were in fact two cadets, Chekov the Russian genius and Sulu from one of her classes. Sulu was always giving Commander Tam flowers during class and while it may be borderlining on a breach of protocol, there was no evidence that there was a serious relationship between the two. Chekov is said to be good friends with Commander Tam and Spock. Both commanders were always seen talking and eating with the young Russian.

That meant Commander Spock would be there as well.

Uhura was always honest with herself. She knew to appreciate an attractive man, but she also learned how to appreciate a man who could converse without his eyes wandering down south. While Kirk had the looks and the wit to match with her, she knew that he was not the type that would never satisfy her needs in a relationship. Commander Spock was different.

The half Vulcan and half human male looked like the type who looked for a companion with desirable traits in manners, mind, and body. While she was pretty sure she scored high in all three, Uhura did not know if Commander Spock thought so. He always replied to her questions with honesty and never seemed bothered whenever she had a question despite how much they debated during class. He seemed to appreciate the idea of her determination in learning and doing well.

"It would help for Spock to have someone else converse in Vulcan besides me. He gets tried of listening to Russian, Japanese, and Chinese even though he's pretty good at them himself. Besides, you can improve your conversation skills for the future. It'll make him feel better that he's teaching instead of hanging out with cadets." Commander Tam explained with a roll of her eyes.

Uhura felt an urge to snap at the commander that Commander Spock was thinking about protocol and how people would perceive a group mixed with cadets and commanders would look. Commander Tam gave a giggle and her brown eyes shined with amusement, but what Uhura had no idea. Composing herself, Uhura managed to look neutral.

"I would be happy to join you and the others for dinner."

"Good!" Commander Tam said grinning. For some reason, Uhura felt like she had fallen into a trap. "I'll meet you at your dorm at 1800. Have a nice day, cadet!"

She watched the commander jog away from her and grab a hold of Commander Spock's arm who had apparently been waiting for her. For a moment, Uhura's eyes met his. He seemed so still and Uhura wondered just how special Commander Tam was to be able to touch him and for him not to decline at a human. She knew there were many female cadets that often look longingly for the male. While the haircut was out of fashion, there were many rumors about Vulcans and their capacity as lovers. She knew one cadet, Chapel, who was seen often trying to catch his attention.

Suddenly, the commander gave a nod before he turned away with Commander Tam. Uhura felt the air stolen from her lungs. It was small, but it was a greeting. Looking around her, she noticed that the people behind her were not paying any mind to what just happened.

Commander Spock had greeted her.

With a smile plastered on her face, Uhura hurried to get her belongings and to get back to the dorms. Dinner could not come soon enough.

***

For the first time in a long time, River felt out of place. While at the beginning, she chatted with the owner in Chinese and then gossiped with her friends, she noticed how an odd number of friends did not go well. Chekov and Sulu were currently arguing about their homeland dishes, cultures, and tactics. Spock and Uhura were conversing in Vulcan about the communications program.

Studying her friends, she felt herself thinking about her old life. Watching Spock and Uhura converse was like watching her brother and Inara talk about the Core planets and cultures. She remembered how much they both miss the more civilized world at times and their conversations tend to ebb that desire. River could remember how much Kaylee would feel jealous but said nothing since she loved the two very much.

Sulu and Chekov were like Book and Jayne discussing something over exercise in the bay. Her heart pinched as she thought of Book and the last time she saw him covered in blood and using his last words to give strength to the Captain.

If she could just close her eyes and ignore the thoughts, she could pretend that she was in a bar with her family. The mix of different languages of various patrons, the clanking and clinking of the dinnerware, the mixture of food, sweat, heat, gasoline, and perfume were slowly taking her to a world where humans were the only living beings and there were only two sides of justice. She was in a bar, the kind that didn't have the whores that Jayne liked but enough pretty serving girls to satisfy him. There was only her, Jayne, Zoe, and the Captain. Everyone else was back on the ship because they were looking for a new job.

She's sitting on the counter, nursing a glass of juice because Zoe firmly tells the men folk that they would be missing a vital part if something funny come her way. Captain is between her and Zoe while Jayne is on her other side. He says it's for protection. For whose protection he never says.

The Captain and Zoe were murmuring, watching out for their new boss while counting on her to read everyone and make sure that there isn't someone hiding to take them out. There were times when someone was hiding to take a shot at the Captain. Jayne was there because he was big, strong and good with a gun.

Plus if they need to leave someone behind, Jayne was it.

She could almost feel the press of metal against her thigh because Jayne was leaning to the side to get a good look at a female's skirt.

_River._

Waking up from her impromptu meditation, River blinked to see that Spock had placed his hand over hers and that everyone else was staring at her. Pulling her hand away, she mentally swallowed the bitterness of reality into the depths of her mind. Right now, she was eating with her friends not back in a bar with family surrounding her.

"Mediated too hard." She said easily with a small smile.

"Meditation should be done privately." Spock stated and poured more tea into her cup. Giving a nod in thanks and to confirm with his statement, River sipped her hot tea.

"Meditation?" Chekov asked curiously.

"River does Vulcan meditation to strengthen her mind." Spock answered.

"It helps me concentrate better." River added hoping to close the subject. While she was not exactly ashamed of her reading ability, she knew how uncomfortable people get around her. Sulu would probably be unable to look at her in the eye for months.

"Interesting. Is this something that you suggest that everyone do?" Uhura asked with an interested look. River looked down to control her smile while Spock only gave a slight tilt to his head as he considers the question.

"Some may benefit with the exercise, however it is in my experience with non-Vulcan races; meditation is an option. They have found ways to strengthen and exercise their minds that differ to those that I know."

Rolling her eyes, River looked over to her two other friends who looked confused about the conversation. Smiling she signaled the owner that they were done with dinner. A few minutes later, he came back with a tray full of coffee gelatin dessert drizzled in cream. Making sure that a bit of gelatin was soaked in the cream; River sucked the bite and wondered on how her doctor and Pike's favorite were doing. Searching through the air of thoughts, she caught a brief of thoughts that sounded like the doctor. The thoughts were concentrated on a figure flirting with an alien female. She could feel his amusement and annoyance.

At least the two were getting along.

She turned her mind towards Jim and found his thoughts in two directions. One was how much fun sex would be and if the cadet had a boyfriend, how much fun the fighting would be. Shaking her head, River could only think that Jim and Jayne could be brothers. Sex and fighting were the two main choices of entertainment for those two. At least Jim does prefer the academics more than Jayne did. Man ape never thought book learning was much unless it was for his ma.

Pulling her mind back the present, she finished her dessert and got involved in a conversation with Sulu about kendo.

***

The dinner that night had ended with all five of them watching the latest interspecies flick that Spock found illogical but admitted that he could see the entertainment value of the storyline. River could barely enjoy the movie as the story was about a group of people from different races and backgrounds coming together to work against a common threat. It had reminded her of Serenity and she made sure she did not touch Spock to worry him and to lose this chance for him to get closer to Uhura.

Not that he noticed the chance that boob.

They had left Sulu and Chekov at the male dorms and were about to escort Uhura to her dorms (River was trying to think of an excuse to leave them alone) when two figures staggered. From the thoughts that were coming out of one, River instantly knew that it was McCoy and Jim. Only that Jim was currently being half carried by McCoy.

"You two go ahead. I'll make sure that these two are okay." River said instantly taking the chance to leave the two alone.

Spock hesitated but River winked at Uhura who seemed to understand that River wanted to leave them alone. Although Uhura was confused from the thoughts in her head she gave a nod. River gave Spock her don't-be-stupid look and shooed them away. He finally gave up and proceeded to walk with Uhura.

Watching them leave for a minute, River turned to jog up to the two males. McCoy had stopped when he saw someone coming over and he blinked in surprise to see it was that girl. River merely nodded and bent down to look up at the bowed head of one Jim Kirk. She could see he had a black eye that was beginning to form, drunk like hell, a split lip, and a cut on his forehead.

Silly boy hadn't even bothered to wait to heal from the last fight.

Without saying a word, River went to the other side of Jim and helped McCoy support him.

"Didn't think I'd see you here again." McCoy murmured as they entered the dorms.

"I knew. I'll see you again tomorrow too."

McCoy shook his head and they stayed silent again. The walk to the room was only about five minutes and River entered into the nearly bare dorm room before the doctor could protest. They dumped Jim's body on a bed and McCoy checked to make sure that his roommate was positioned so that he wouldn't die over night. River watched him absently perform the duties of a friend and a doctor. It was soothing to watch someone performing medical procedures like her brother did.

Except, Simon had less wrinkles and he laughed more now that he had accepted Serenity as home.

This doctor still had the taste of bitterness of life, loss, and sorrow in his thoughts and it seemed that being a doctor was the only way for him to face life. Zoe was like that now. Ever since Wash died from the Reavers' helm, working for the Captain was the only thing that made her seem alive. Sometimes River would sneak into bed with her when the thoughts got really bad. At first, Zoe had scolded her about breaking into her cabin, but gave up and let the younger female do what she wanted.

Zoe had always smelled of leather, gunpowder, and warm spice. And when she wrapped River up in her sleep, dreaming of Wash, she could feel the heartbeat that drummed steady to lull her to sleep.

River wondered if Zoe could sleep without her there.

Sitting down on Jim's bed, she carded her fingers through his short hair and looked at McCoy who seemed pensive.

"It'll be okay." River murmured to them both.

"Damn kid is going to get himself killed here." McCoy snapped. "Stupid shit just jumped into a fight."

"He knew that she had a boyfriend." River mused. That got McCoy's attention. "He thinks of the night in two ways. Have fun with the girl or have fun with a fight. It's his way of knowing he exists."

"How'd you know about the girl?"

River raised an eyebrow at that.

"Isn't it always about the girl?"

He nodded at that. Most bar fights often did start with the girl. Watching the young girl sit and brush Jim's hair brought a protective side in him. If that girl was falling for the kid, it was not going to be pretty. McCoy was not stupid, he knew the signs of a neglected child and Jim screamed it out. The neediness of some form of physical contact, the uncaring attitude of what people say, and the lack of authority proved that Jim Kirk felt alone in this Earth. It would take a patient woman, man, or alien to handle him and while the girl was weird, McCoy did not believe that she could handle a relationship with Jim.

"I'm not interested in him like that."

McCoy looked up to see her watching him without pausing her brushing. There was an amused smile on those lips and her eyes were sparkling.

"Didn't say you were." He replied.

"But your face tells me it. He's shiny but shiny isn't going to cut it for him. Everyone is going to look at him. He doesn't need me to screw it up." Getting up, she walked up to McCoy and pressed a chaste kiss on his stubble cheek. "Stay with him. He's going to need you."

With that, she disappeared out the door.

Touching the spot that her lips met, he could smell that flowery scent from before. It was a friendly type of kiss, nothing more. It reminded him of sloppy kisses from his baby girl before the divorce. Looking down at the kid, he knew that her words were true.

This kid is James Tiberius Kirk, son of George Samuel Kirk who was one of the greatest heroes to exist. All of Starfleet is going to be looking at the son of the dead hero and the little shit was going to need all the help he could get. Sagging down to his bed, McCoy wondered just what the hell he had gotten himself into. Then he shrugged it off.

As long as somebody needs him, he'll do the best damn job he can.

***

Jim Kirk was in pain but gritted his teeth.

Apparently getting into another fight before healing from a previous one and getting his ass up for class was not a great idea. Bones had scolded him and offered a pain killer but he refused. Mostly because the way Bones was holding that hypo was pretty scary to see when waking up.

He paused for a moment. Was Bones even allowed to have that in their room?

Right now, he was waiting for Bones to finish with his coffee so that they could go to their first class of ethics and protocol – a class that he apparently was not allowed to test out of. He had tried but received from the personnel that the professor/commander who runs the department refused anyone from testing out. When he tried to argue about it, the personnel pulled out a mirror and told him that as long as he looked like he came from a bar fight, he could never prove his ability on ethics and protocol.

"Aren't you finished with that cup yet, Bones? I swear, I could have drank three from the way you drink your one." He whined. His older comrade just gave him a deadpanned look and took a long sip from his coffee. Jim scowled at the obvious barb on his words.

After a few more minutes, Bones finally finished his coffee with a smirk at the frowning Jim and threw the cup in the recycler. They both walked out of the mess hall to go to the classroom that was several buildings away.

"God, I hope this Commander Tam isn't some hard ass who has some complex with their kid." Jim grumbled. Bones raised an eyebrow at that.

"Don't tell me you already slept with his kid." Bones said with incredulity. Jim shook his head at that.

"Remember the girl? The one who got you to sit in your seat back in the shuttle?"

"Yeah, met her last night with you passed out drunk and bloody. She helped me get your drunken ass to bed." Bones replied with a smirk. Jim sighed and rolled his eyes. It seems that Tam girl was always seeing the bad side of him.

"Anyways, her name is Tam and I assume that it's her last name. She's probably got someone in the family connected to Starfleet and that's this Commander Tam. Tried looking up the bastard's file, but it's at a high level clearance."

"Kid, you just got here. Of course you can't access a high level clearance file. Come on. Maybe the girl hasn't told this Commander Tam anything. She seems to like you." Bones said as they finally entered the classroom.

The first thing they saw was that over half the class was already inside and they were mostly staring at one part of the room – the desk where the professor sat. Except the professor was currently reading a huge book that obscure their face and their feet were on the table. Not unusual except that the professor was a female wearing the black dress uniform of a high officer and those skirts were pretty short.

Luckily the professor seemed to taken account on that and had worn shorts. While Jim whistled his appreciation on the long legs, Bones mused if that was regulation.

"Okay, it's gotta be her mom or older sister. They sure got those leg genes right." Jim whispered as they took their seats. Bones just reached over and smacked his head but mentally agreeing about the legs.

It was a few minutes until the bell rang for the start of class. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the professor slowly put her book down and moved to stand. Jim felt like he had been suckered punch when the face of the hot legs professor came to view.

Her hair was different. The last time he saw her, it had been down. Now it was up in a messy bun with several strands of hair loose from the hold. The tight black uniformed looked real good on her slim form and those boots did something with her legs. He could hear Bones swearing under his breath about 'recruitment' and 'connections his ass'.

How the hell? Didn't Pike say she was under eighteen?!

"Good morning. This is Interspecies Ethics and Protocol. Many of you are wondering why this class is a requirement that can not be tested out or even be skipped in order to graduate." Her brown eyes stared at his blue ones before she paced away to another part of the room. "Over half of you like to have a good time during the evenings and you need to understand that here in San Francisco, there are probably more alien species here then where most of you use to live in. That means you need to be careful of what you do and say."

She turned and faced everyone with a sweet smile, but Jim could tell that her eyes were laughing at them.

"I am Commander River Tam, youngest commander here at Starfleet. All of you will pass my class or else I'll be forced to see your faces again in another term or year. I expect that your papers to be properly cited and reasonable. I will not give credit for creativity. One cadet wrote that in dealing with a Klingon, you shot him before he shoots you. A valid suggestion, but not acceptable in my class."

The little story got most of the class to titter while Bones had snorted. Jim being a smart ass stood up.

"So that meant that you put the suggestion to use yourself?" he asked with a charming smile. Commander Tam smiled back.

"No Cadet Kirk. I found a different way in dealing with Klingons. It's called kicking their asses. Sit down."

As he sat down he heard Bones mumble that he could believe that. Jim started at her wondering why and how she managed to get the status of commander at the age of seventeen. She would have started at the age of ten or so to get where she was. Or it could be that her family connections got her this job, but she had to be intelligent enough to teach cadets who are older than her.

As she began her lecture, he absently wrote down notes while his mind was else where. He will graduate in three years and he'll serve a ship for four (hopefully he find some way to cut it down to two) and have his own star ship. He'll get Bones with him for Chief Medical Officer. While he only met the man just a couple of days ago; any man willing to help another from a stupid drunk night was a friend. Maybe if he tried really hard, he'll get Uhura as a communication officer. There has to be someone to brighten his day and her hot and fierce attitude was what he needed.

Staring down at Commander Tam, he wondered if she would agree to be part of his crew. She could be the Ambassador or the hottie who kicks ass or the –

"Cadet Kirk!"

Standing up in surprise, he looked to see Commander Tam looking up at him with a mix of wry amusement and exasperation.

"Yes, commander?"

"Please give explain to me why some alien species take offence at certain jobs that Starfleet provides and why certain titles are given to prevent such disputes."

Jim could almost swear that he was picked because of the hottie remark in his head.

***********************************************************************

I finally finished this chapter and let me tell, it was hard. It took me five days to figure out how this would go. Hopefully, it'll get easier later on.

I have been thinking about what will happen after the movie and the idea of more people from the Firefly universe coming over or vice versa is tempting. Of course, I need to finish this up before I actually do something about it.

I am beginning to lean towards a certain pairing and after reading this, many of you will have an idea. It still might change so don't get your hopes up.

The updates for this fic is going to be a lot slower from now on. I'll do my best to write up a little each day, but I'll probably take about two weeks to update instead of a week or less.

Hope you love this! And please be kind and review!


	13. Chapter 11: Stars

Thanks for the reviews everyone. Glad to hear that you liked the last chapter. Personally, I found that going a chapter after doing one that was exciting or part of the movie plot tends to be difficult to write because it's the aftermath.

Disclaimer: Some dead dude and some living one own the two series and the characters. I'm just blending the two.

A Reader in the Stars

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Chapter Eleven: Stars

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By the end of the class, River was beginning to understand what it was like to have a debate in a middle of class like Spock did when Uhura was in his class. Cadet Kirk kept on arguing over just about every point that she made. While she knew that it was her fault for picking on him while he was daydreaming, she had not plan on guessing that he was going to get her back by being an ass.

"Everyone, I want you to read chapters one to three by the next class and write an essay about a personal experience base on those chapters. I don't want you to make up something and if you do, I will find out. Dismiss." She said as the bell rang.

While everyone began to walk down to the door, River went back to her desk and sagged into her chair. She could almost feel a headache starting. Did that guy have to question her on everything? Even he doesn't know why he was questioning her on everything.

"So, commander? Might have been nice to know when you dragged me outta my home." A southern drawl male stated.

She looked up and gave a smile. McCoy was looking at her with scowl on his face.

"I didn't drag you. You bumped into me and I kidnapped you from a homeless existence. I think it's a better alternative." She replied with an amuse smile. She got a snort for her troubles. "Besides, you wouldn't have believed me."

"True." McCoy admitted. It was then that Jim came barreling down with a wide grin.

"Well, Commander! It's nice to meet you again. Anyway I could earn some extra credit?" he asked with a leer. McCoy glared and swapped the younger man's head. River just smile at that.

"You don't need to worry, Doctor. I've heard worse. Sometimes being the youngest isn't the greatest thing in the world. Shouldn't you two be going to your next class?"

"Not for another half-hour. Doesn't look like you have another class yet." McCoy said looking around. River nodded at that.

"It's the benefit of being the head of my department. I don't have to teach as much as the rest of the commanders and professors. Downside would be going on missions and doing dissertations. So far I've only done one little survey mission and three dissertations."

"It's because your age?" Jim asked. River just looked away in a far away gaze.

"Part of it is that. Most of it is that there are very few people who feel comfortable with me on a mission. The only other person is in a different department and they prefer to use him as a janitor."

"So, too young to do anything dangerous. Must drive you nuts not to be able to be promoted." Jim said with a sympathetic look. River rolled her eyes at that.

"If I wanted to be promoted, they'll do it. It's that no one wants to work under a kid, no matter how good they are." She pointed out and then got up. She had to meet Spock soon and all the talk about being stuck in the academy was making her antsy.

River wanted to be back in space. She wanted to see the stars, feel the shudder of the ship, hear the hum of the engine, and senses the peace that comes from being in space. Being here instead of the Black makes her feel maroon. Left out from everything she loved. It was frustrating that there wasn't a ship that made her want to come home to like the Serenity. If only there was a way to bring her home here –

She sat up so fast that she nearly knocked Jim off his feet when he got too close to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Serenity may not be here, but that doesn't mean she couldn't make Serenity here in this world. It was possible. All she needs to do is to make some blue prints, research the materials, fiddle with some engines, and she'll have a Firefly class star ship of her own. Spock was going to love this!

"Sorry! I got to go! Get to class you two!" River called out as she dashed out of the room. She was half way down the hallway when she felt McCoy's amusement and Jim's frustration. She pushed it out of her mind for now. Jim's failure at being friendly to her was nothing compare to making a brand new Serenity.

***

"While the idea is plausible, I do not feel that this project of your will be successful."

Spock watched River pout, knowing that she knew why he believed her plans would fail. While the youngest commander in Starfleet, River was not the most popular with command. The incident of the survey mission made most of the fleet fear her instead of respect her. Creating a small star ship that would only need the man power of five people or less was not logical for the goals of Starfleet.

He saw her face darken with some emotion (sadness, he assumed) and tried to find a logical reason for her to at least attempt the project. After two point six seconds pass, he found his reasoning.

"Designing a ship even one by memory would take months and possibly years to complete. By then, you may attempt to propose the idea and the rate of success in receiving the monetary funds would increase by thirty percent."

His friend was smiling by the time he finished his reasoning. River reached out and grabbed his hand. While his hands were the most sensitive part of his body, River's touch always felt gentle and warm. Her presence in his mind was a light breeze in his mindscape. The meditation exercises had improved her mental capacity beyond what he had expected.

Spock can now navigate through River's mind much easier then the first attempt. While many of her memories were faded from the travesties she had suffered, he could see many of the ones from her time in Serenity. Building a duplicate ship would help curb the homesickness that he occasional felt whenever they connected. He could see the ship from her memories. Worn metal plates of the hull, the two adjacent thrusters that could rotate to change the trajectory of the star ship, and the shape of the ship that gave River an impression that it was alive were the thoughts that Spock read through their connected hands.

"It's going to be beautiful. We'll have cabins for each of us and some for the others. We'll play games in the cargo bay and the medical bay is definitely going to be bigger. Simon's was too small. There should be some nicer cabins for guests like your parents or Captain Pike."

She kept on going with her plans and Spock could see what Serenity looked like. It was primitive in terms of technology. There were no replicators, no phasers, no warp cores, or turbo lifts. They had to cook fresh food manually. The star ship depend not only computers but the skills of the pilot to manually fly it in space. The inside of the ship was not orderly like he was used to, but it was what his mother would call homely. Walls of the living area were painted with frivolous designs and each cabin of the crew was decorated as their own. It was what River called a home.

However River's plans for her ship were going to include a warp core engine and Spock was curious in how she would accomplish that task. The smallest ship with warp capabilities was at least five times the size of this odd ship and anything smaller was considered a waste due to the materials being used having not enough energy to warp.

"It'll be fine. I have all the time in the 'verse to figure it out."

He looked down at his friend. She was looking up at him with brown eyes that reminded him of his mother's eyes. The expression on her face was on of serene peace.

"If you need help on your project, I will be honored to contribute in creating a communications system and networking system."

"I know. Maybe Cadet Uhura would be interested in helping. Too bad she's taking all those language classes now. We'll hardly see her now."

Spock ignored that comment. Ever since River met Cadet Uhura, she had been increasing the idea of companionship and has taken every chance to mention her name. While Spock agreed that Cadet Uhura was attractive and intelligent, he was not interested in having a mate as of now. His need for companionship was completed with River, Chekov, and occasionally Sulu. Cadet Uhura is a good student and an excellent conversing partner. However her presence tends to make him uncomfortable.

He remembered how emotional Cadet Uhura was during class whenever they debated on the lesson he prepared. Outside of the classroom, she reminded him of a Vulcan. It was not her appearance but her manner. Spock found it odd that an emotional creature such as Uhura would change her nature so oddly. He should think that it was logical of her to imply Vulcan like manners in his presence, but it made no sense.

His mother had worked hard to employ Vulcan ways in living on the mother planet for Vulcans. However Cadet Uhura has no logical reason other then the human custom of being polite.

_Stop being a boob. Uhura thinks you prefer to regulation and knows plenty of Vulcan culture._

"Logically, I should appreciate the consideration, however I find it disconcerting."

_I know. I think it's funny the way she acts with you and how she acts with her friends._

There was bitterness in his mind that he could not tell if it was River's or his own. Different, always different and never belonging to anyone. That was something that both he and River share.

"I believe that we are getting off topic to your plans in creating a star ship. Perhaps, you should acquire the help of Cadet Chekov in a simulation of the ship's design against a warp."

From the way River was biting her lip, he knew that she understood to drop the subject of Cadet Uhura. That did not mean that she would stop.

"Chekov would like the idea. I'll start creating a flying simulation for Sulu and see how he likes this sort of piloting then the standard Federation star ship. Maybe I should ask Dr. McCoy about the medical bay."

Spock quickly searched through her mind to find more about this Dr. McCoy and found him fascinating. A human doctor that River recruited and an excellent one. He wondered if this doctor reminded her of Simon.

_Not really. Simon has better manners but McCoy can be charming. But they both like to help people._

They reached the phonics lab where Spock's next class was being held. The half Vulcan paused at the entryway before he looked down at his young friend. There was much to say with River's sudden decision in creating a new star ship. There was a part of him that wondered what River would give to find a way back to her universe. He concluded that there was a ninety-eight percent chance that she would agree to anything. Spock found his calculations to be disturbing. Life before River was acceptable. He expected and was correct in assuming about human behavior and how it would affect him. He was used to humans being uncomfortable with his half alien nature and their perchance on misunderstanding his own actions. Spock would always assure himself that they were the inferior in terms of emotional control and there were few who could understand like his mother did with his father.

Now, those past actions seemed unacceptable.

River while human was his other half. She understood more than his mother did of the difficulties of being different. She understood about strong emotions and had even suffered from them. She understood the reason why Vulcans buried them under strong layers of control and meditation. She understood the necessity of peace.

There would be no other like her to replace in his memory.

He looked down and felt the slightly cooler hand that cupped his cheek. Her thumb stroked his prominent cheek bone in a soothing gesture. She was looking at him with a small smile and he could feel the sadness that filtered from the touch.

"You do not understand logically, but there is nothing in this 'verse that I would not do short of murder to see them again. But I promise you, I won't leave without saying farewell to you. You are my best friend in any 'verse. Nothing will ever change that."

Spock covered her hand with his and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he organized his thoughts with careful precision before he found what his reply should be.

_From my mind to yours, I shall never forget you and I shall support your decision be it now or in the future. You will live long and prosper in this or any universe should we be separated. _

They pulled away from each other after that and Spock entered the lab while she turned away and left to the gym.

***

Hikaru Sulu was wiping the excess sweat from his brow when his eyes caught sight of Commander River Tam. It did not matter how many times he saw her, the younger female always took his breath away. She wasn't the most beautiful woman in the world but Sulu found that she had a beauty that was almost inhuman at times. Especially when she danced.

He knew that he was like many of the male cadets who admired her, but he knew better than to think of trying anything with her. It was not that he did not want to date her, but he felt inadequate to do so. She was intelligent that was beyond human comprehension and there was an innocence about her that made him feel afraid to tamper with.

Despite that, Commander Tam is a good friend. She was always friendly and never laughed at his hobby in botany like some of the other cadets did. Whenever possible, he would give her a bouquet of flowers. This term he will be unable to do as much as he liked, but there will be times where he'll be able to. It seems that whenever he gave her flowers, she always had that pleasant expression on her face of surprise and delight. And he has never gotten tired of it.

"Hello Sulu." She called out without looking at his direction. Sulu smiled at that. No matter where he was, she always knew he was there.

Watching her stretch, he realized that Commander Tam was in a dancing mood. He wondered what type of dancing she was going to do. Normally, she would do ballet, but lately she had been branching out into different genres such as hip-hop, contemporary, and folk dancing. It was odd that no matter what sort of dance it was, Commander Tam made it look easy and graceful. He hoped that she would do ballet, but from the lack of the slippers, it might be contemporary which was just as amazing.

"You can watch, Sulu."

He gave a sheepish smile. She always knew that he like to watch her dance and she liked it when he applause at the end like when he did when he first met her. Sulu jogged over to her and entered one of the rooms that separated from the main room of the gym. There were plenty of smaller rooms that were used for classes but they always had a window so others could watch without disturbing anyone. The previous term, he had watched from the outside, but now Commander Tam invited him into the room where he would be able to hear the music that she danced to.

Sliding down to the floor with a wall to his back, he watched her jump around and shake her limbs. It's funny now Sulu always felt that she looked amazing in a simple white wife beater and tight gray shorts with her hair loose from the bun.

"Computer, play random 21st century pop song."

In an instant, music blasted from the nearly invisible speakers and she moved. The music had a haunting quality to it and the lyrics were about farewells. It was not his type of music but he found it both peaceful and sad. It was the type of song people play when they were breaking up.

With each step, her body accentuated the depth of the song. Her arms moved in fluid grace with each raise, her lithe muscles barely showing the strain of the control it took, and then she was in the air in a flip where her legs curved that made the air still with wonder. When her feet touch the ground, it looked so light and Sulu could have sworn she was floating.

"Wow."

A male voice next to him breathed out the word in wonder and Sulu turned to see that someone had snuck in and sat next to him. He almost laughed at the dumbfounded look on the guy's face. He was obviously a cadet from the regulation uniform. Blond hair, blue eyes, and obviously a good looking guy, Sulu had a feeling that Commander Tam had made another admirer from the student body.

"Yeah." Sulu agreed in a whisper while his eyes went back to the dancer who jumped with her body in an arc and her hands in her long hair. Instead of landing on her feet, she allowed herself to fall and roll before picking herself up to spin on one leg.

Then he noticed the expression on her face. Her tense face and the shine of her eyes made his heart ache. Suddenly then dance was the saddest thing that he had ever seen in his life. Her arms clutched to her body as if to protect herself from whatever it was that made that expression. The fluid movement of her feet across the floor looked more like running and each jump looked as if she were reaching for something. The dance that was full of fluidity and grace was turning into desperate escape somehow.

Sulu did not know why, but he felt his body move on its own and he was striding across the room. Her head snapped to stare at him before she ran towards him. Spreading his arms out, he caught her as she jumped to him. The force of her body colliding his made him rotate to prevent himself from falling on his back. As he turned, he could smell the scent of flora, sweat, and shampoo as his nose buried into her hair. He could feel her arms clutching around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. Her face was buried into his neck and her breath was warm against his skin. His chest could feel the racing heart beat that seemed desperate to explode from her body. Absently he knew just about any guy would kill to be in his position, but he was worried about the trembling that he could feel in his arms.

She was not crying but clutching him tightly, as if she was afraid of loosing him. With one arm around her waist, he stroked her hair with his other hand. It was a few more seconds before he could stop turning and by then the music ended. They stayed silent for a moment before he felt her legs loosen and then allowed her body to slide down from his. Looking down, he saw whatever that had bothered her was gone for now. She gave him a wry smile.

"Not bad Sulu. Maybe you should be my partner." She teased. He grinned at that.

"I don't need anymore reasons to stab people, Commander. Bad enough they think I'm a wuss for being a gardener."

Rolling her eyes, she turned to look at the other person with annoyance. The guy looked amused for some reason and Sulu could see his eyes traveling up and down the commander's body. If the idiot was going to try anything, he was going to be surprised and dead if Commander Spock and Chekov found out. Sulu knew better than to avenge Commander Tam from overly hormonal cadets. The woman could take care of herself. He had the bruises to prove that.

However Commander Spock and Chekov were different. The strict commander had a habit of reporting anything that he found inappropriate and subtly threatening the more vigorous cadets with suspension and expulsion. Chekov though was a real terror. The fourteen year old adore Commander Tam and Sulu knew about the numerous computer errors that would happen to the more annoying pursuers such as laundry errors, computer viruses on the comms, and the replicators. Sulu had been lucky that Commander Tam liked him otherwise he would be facing all of that.

"Cadet Kirk, don't you have class? And where is McCoy?"

Kirk, Sulu remembered hearing that name once.

"Bones is at the hospital right now. He's being interviewed about a position. I'm here to check out the facilities on my free time. I have to say, commander, you are amazing." Kirk answered with a smile.

With a sigh, Commander Tam looked over to Sulu.

"I'm going to clean up. We'll spar at another time Sulu." She said with a smile. Walking pass Cadet Kirk, she stuck her tongue out at him and laughed before disappearing out of the room. The two men were silent before Kirk pursed his lips.

"So, you two together? I mean, I don't want any trouble, usually." Kirk said with a lopsided grin. Sulu felt exasperated but had to smile. There was something about this guy that made him want to hit or laugh.

"No. She's a good friend. But I wouldn't try it. She's not yet eighteen and she got seriously powerful people to take vengeance if you do." He warned. Kirk raised an eyebrow at that.

"As in high in Starfleet?"

"As in getting your ass expelled or making your life in the dorms so miserable that you'll be begging to quit. So if you like to eat decent food and not having your alarm set to sound every single hour of the night, I wouldn't try anything on her. But she's good to have as a friend."

Sulu could see Kirk's face soften just a bit before his grin grew wider.

"I'll keep that in mind. It's not like she's the only girl here. I don't want too much trouble. Besides, I think Bones will kill me if I do and he's the doctor."

They both chuckled even though Sulu had no idea who this Bones person is.

"I'm Hikaru Sulu. Commander Tam usually comes to the gym at irregular intervals, but if you do catch her here, don't take her offer to spar, she'll kick your ass."

"Jim Kirk. I think I'll wait until I'm sure about hand-to-hand to attempt that." Kirk replied. "Saw her kicking ass in a bar fight."

Sulu laughed at that.

***

Chekov frowned as he studied the PADD with intense concentration.

"I don't know, Commander. Putting an FTL drive on something this small is not possible."

He could see her lips pressed with frustration at his conclusion. However Pavel Chekov could not lie to her. The ship she was planning to design was only 82 meters longs and 52 meters high. Base on the design of the engine room itself, it was not enough room to fit a single chamber. Much less anything else to help support it.

"I know, Chekov. But there should be a way to convert the energy of the matter and anitmatter into a small space. It's not possible with a shuttle, but it should work for a ship this size." She replied in Russian. "What if we change the shape of the warp core chamber? We could apply an old method of using coils to regulate the energy."

"The idea is good if you want this warp core to power the ship, but for a warp, I do not think it is wise, at least with this design." Chekov said shaking his head. "It would be better to follow the Constitution class vessel design."

Sighing, she took the PADD away from him before she gave a tired smile.

"Sorry. I've been working on it for a couple days. It's just frustrating that the design of it is preventing the warp core."

He nodded understanding her passion. Ever since Commander Spock mentioned about Commander Tam's desire to design a ship, Chekov, Sulu, and Uhura were trying to support her. Uhura had thought the ship to be cute and the ideas of the communications system to be adequate. Sulu thought her idea of manual controls was odd, but had jumped aboard on the idea. Chekov had been excited especially when Commander Tam said that if they ever get it built, all of them would be trying it out.

"The coil design is not bad, but for it to work, you would need to integrate the entire ship for the energy to keep traveling without blowing up."

"True and I would need to find a way to keep it from overloading too. I'll think about the engine design later. I just wish I could find an engineer crazy enough to pull this off with me." She grumbled. Chekov gave a groan at that. Engineers were crazy but they also like to keep things simple.

"Good luck with that. Engineers like them big. At least that is what I heard from someone."

"And everyone is dying to get to the Enterprise. I know Spock and I have places, but you cadets are such eager birds about flying from the nest." Commander Tam said with a small smile. Chekov blushed at that.

"The Enterprise is supposed to be the latest ship in technology. What cadet would not give anything to join her?"

Commander Tam sighed and shook her head at him. For some reason, Commander Tam disliked the bigger star ships.

"It's too big. Too many people getting in the way and it makes me feel stifled."

The fourteen year old only chuckled at the strange answer. Commander Tam was funny and he likes her for her companionship. Chekov was not blind and he did have a crush on her, but he was afraid of going against the older males of their friends. Commander Spock is very close to her and Sulu is also very charming. Not only that, both men were tall, strong, and rather manly. He knew in terms of closeness, Commander Spock was the first while he and Sulu were tied. However there times that he felt jealous of the close bond.

He felt someone patting his head and saw that it was Commander Tam.

"Don't be worried. No matter what, I'll be glad if you and Sulu make it to the Enterprise."

Somehow, that comment made him feel better.

***

It took River about a month before she had a rough design of the ship that she wanted. She had been obsessed with the project that she barely paid any attention to her classes. Kirk was always trying to get a raise out of her and she rarely took the bait because she was eager to get back to designing her ship. In fact, most of her time was dedicated on the new Firefly class ship. That did not mean she ignored her friends. Spock and Chekov often met with her to discuss about the warp core going into their habit of going out to a 24 hour diner to discuss detailed to the early hours of the morning. Uhura would mention some suggestion for the communication systems and Sulu would sometime drag her out of her obsession enough to have a spar or two.

She had finally created an engine that would work out for her ship. In reality it was system of engines. The side thrusters were recreated to have a semi-circular structure around them to extend above them which would help boost the ship for warp. The main engine would also be connected to the warp core which would distribute the inert power around the ship through a transport system. Technically this idea alone would mean that the ship would be out of power during a warp; however River kept the original engine design to be used to help power the rest of the ship's systems during a warp.

The changes had cause her to increase the size of the ship by a third and base on the simulations that she had created, the most the ship could warp would be a six. While it was better than what Spock or Chekov had thought, she had hoped to make it an eight like most of the larger star ships. However that would mean she would need to increase the size of the ship and she didn't want to push the weight any more than necessary.

Her ship was going to be made for speed in the air, not for the bulk.

Now she was going to take the time to go into the details and that was going to take her months to complete. She was going to have to design and figure out where the systems are going to be laid out, the specific sizes of the rooms, and convince an engineer that it was possible to create a warp core small enough to fit in and to produce the power that she expected out of it.

Problem was that her friends were not engineers. While Spock and Chekov were some of the most intelligent people, they were not the best in creating a whole new engine. Sulu was a pilot and decent at strategy, but the only things he can create are organic in nature. Uhura while great at translations and showing a talent in hearing transmissions no matter how faint through the systems and great at bypassing wires to get something through had no talent in engineering either.

Maybe she should ask Cadet Kirk about it. River had been hearing rumors of him for a while now. While he was the Don Juan of Starfleet academy, he was also climbing high in the academic part. He had showed talent in engineering and she had overheard the professor complaining about how he was always tempted to either strangle the cadet or praise him.

However she put that thought away. As much as she liked to ask him, she would not. Kirk had enough on his plate in trying to cram four years of work into three like he had promised Pike at the shuttle. Besides the command track was the hardest out of anything that the academy could offer. Both Chekov and Sulu are taking a few classes so that they would have some qualifications in case they care to tryout. Uhura was currently thinking about it.

Right now, she was still working on her plans while walking towards the hospital. It had been a while since she saw McCoy outside of class and she felt it would do her some good to see him. Not that she liked the hospital much. The place inside reminded her of the lab that Blue Sun had owned during her time with them. She could sometimes feel that pain of something plunging into her brain, the cool sensation of something infiltrating into her blood stream, and the tight restraints that kept her from escaping.

So lost in the memories she failed to notice another cadet was into his own PADD and they collided with a force of two people in a hurry without looking.

River felt her body in the air and reacted quickly. Shooting out one hand above her head, she touched the ground and pushed against it so she had enough space to flip backward on her feet. She could feel the surprise of the cadet and his roar of pain and fury was heard.

"Damn you! Can't you see that I'm a walking?! What's the matter with you? Got stones for eyes or something?!"

Once her feet touch the ground, she looked down to see a red face cadet glaring up at her before his eyes widen in realization. River's mouth twitch at his thoughts of 'oh shit I'm going to hell!' and 'mum would kill me if she heard me yellin' at a lady!' He was funny and the more important part was that he was an engineer.

"You were the same as me. You were staring at your PADD and not watching what you were doing." Walking over and picking up his discarded PADD, she quickly scanned the contents in interest. It was about warp theory and the ability to beam something that was beyond the limited range of 100,000 kilometers. It was interesting and the equations that the cadet was attempting would fail but it was something different.

"My apologizes, ma'am. I didn't realize where I was going." He began but River cut him off.

"You're an engineer, am I correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. You need something done and I can get it done!"

River paused as she came across a memory of a homemade still and she smiled. Kaylee had made one back at home but it was no secret. It was the only thing close to free booze that they can get with so little money. She would need to add that for the engine room.

Taking her own PADD, she tossed it to the cadet who caught it in surprise. Then she reached out her hand and pulled him to his feet.

"Good. I want you to review this and give me your opinion of it. I expect you to meet me at the Simulation lab on the third floor of the science building by 1100 tomorrow. Are you clear, cadet?"

For a moment he stared at her in shock and then he looked at the PADD. His eyes grew wide and his face turns pale as he touched the screen to read more of the information. River half expected for him to start screaming at her that she was demanding the impossible and that she was crazy for even think about making such as star ship. Right now his mind was currently reading the information. Once he reached the designs for the warp core, he looked up and then promptly fainted.

She blinked in surprise and then quickly read his thoughts before rolling her eyes. River had just found the perfect candidate to attempt to design her warp core; she found a hard core engineer who had been without sleep for three days and just suffered a caffeine crash. Sighing with annoyance, she grabbed both PADDS under one arm and grabbed the cadet buy the back of his uniform.

If the cadet complained about having a worn patch on the back of pants because she was kind enough to drag him to the hospital then he's an ungrateful boob.

"Montgomery Scott, you and I are going to be good friends."

If he can't get the warp core done, at least she could demand the still.

***

"Dammit woman! You don't go dragging a man like that when he's unconscious!"

Of course, the younger female just ignored him as she hauled the cadet on a bio bed.

"This idiot is sleep deprived and has been going on with caffeine alone. Fix him." She said pouting. McCoy scowled and looked at the reading from the bio bed. The girl was right about the cadet.

"He's going to need to rest more and has to make sure he eats proper nutrition. If he's doing anything too physical he's going to need to back off for a while."

She nodded at that while still staring at the man she brought in. McCoy watched her for a few minutes before his thoughts went to Jim. Lately his roommate was going a bit crazy and overboard with the fights and the ladies. Not that he had bothered to bring any to their room. That was one thing McCoy was against in the beginning. The boy had been getting into more fights ever since Commander Tam has been practically ignoring him and McCoy.

McCoy did not mind so much. Despite her young age, he was pretty sure the girl had more than teaching work to do. He had his own work with classes and working at the hospital made him pretty busy to hang out with Jim except to patch him up on a hard night out of campus. For some reason, Jim was not taking the lack of friendliness from the girl. If she wasn't so distracted, McCoy could have sworn that half of the crap that Jim does in her class was a cry for attention.

"Sorry, I've been so busy with a new project. I heard good things about you and the hospital." She said softly. He shrugged his shoulders at that.

"No different than med school."

For a moment he debated on if he should say something about Jim. It wasn't like he was a busy match maker, just a doctor who knows his friend needs some assurance from this girl of something. Although he did not know what exactly. It was not like Jim was in love with her. That much he could tell with all the girls he had tumbled with. All of them were different and beautiful in their own ways which was what Jim liked about them. Cadet Uhura fulfilled Jim need of the challenging unbeatable conquest.

However he saw the look in those blue eyes whenever Commander Tam was in class. It was a look of some sort of longing mixed with determination. It was a hard look, not a loving one. And he could tell it was affecting Jim harder than the kid realizes.

"Look, could you just talk to him?" he asked gruffly. The girl faced him with a neutral expression before tilting her head to the side. "He thinks you're important enough that he's being reckless. Just talk with him."

Her expression softens and a sad smile formed on her lips.

"I didn't realize I affected him that badly."

"Well, you do, though God knows why."

"I'll talk to him." She promised. Once again, she kissed his cheek before she grinned. "You won't be working too hard tonight."

"Why? You're going to stop all the idiots in the world from being stupid?" he asked with a growl. The girl shook her head at that as she walked backwards to the entryway.

"Just a feeling. Tell Cadet Scott to make sure to study that PADD."

"Just get out of my hospital already! I'm a doctor, not your personal messenger, commander!"

***

Jim Kirk was getting a headache. Sure the cadet was pretty and it was fun to flirt with her, but seriously she was pushing him. So he slept with her a couple times, but she's associating a couple nights as a relationship. While she seemed a nice girl, Jim knew a relationship between the two of them would be a disaster.

He was about to turn her down again when someone jumped on his back and slender limbs wrapped around his neck and waist. A delicate flora scent filled his nose and a long piece of hair tickled the skin of his neck as a face pushed from his back and they were cheek to cheek. Looking down, he could see a pair of pale legs that looked really good around his waist and the sleeves of the uniform were black. Jim knew who it was and he felt his body relax for a moment.

"Commander?" the pushy girl said with surprise.

"Cadet Goodwin, I trust that you don't mind if I borrow Cadet Kirk from you?" the familiar female voice asked in a playful tone. Jim privately thought that she could borrow him for as long as she wants. "There is something I need to discuss with about class."

"No Commander Tam. I'll see you later, Jim?" Goodwin said with an unsecured voice. He only smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Come on, Cadet Kirk. Get moving." Commander Tam ordered as she hit his head. He looked over his shoulder making their faces within inches of each other for the second time.

"Like this? It's not proper." He teased as he walked away. "So, am I getting that chance for extra credit?"

"Don't be stupid. I'm doing my duty to help my student. Look ahead." She said and moved his head to the front. They stayed that way for a few moments with Jim walking and her on his back. "I heard you've been acting outrageous."

He gave a laugh at that.

"Just letting some stress out. I got a crazy work load here."

"Don't make McCoy worry about you too much." She replied before he felt her lips near his ear and her breath warm and wet against his skin. He tense and tighten his grip on her legs. "I want to see you two get to the Enterprise when it sets off."

Warmth filled his body and he smiled at that. He wanted to get to the Enterprise as well. He could still see that half built ship on the ground of Iowa and he could feel that possessiveness in his blood of having a ship like that for his own. Then a mischievous idea crept in his mind.

"Thrusters are on full."

Catching on, Commander Tam tightens her hold on him.

"Thrusters ready. Weapons and shield are a go."

"All systems check and we're ready to go."

"Punch it!"

With that Jim dash off with Commander Tam screaming and laughing around the campus.

*************************************************************

Good god! This is the longest chapter ever! I almost wanted to write more here.

How you like Scotty? I thought it would be hilarious even though it was short. I promise there will be more Scotty moments!

Now for some major news. I have just figure out an idea about how River got to the Star Trek universe and I also figure out a way for the rest of the Firefly cast to meet up. I think you guys are going to like it.

So as a promise, the first Firefly character will be introduced either in the next chapter or the chapter after that.

Oh, just in case any of you care, the music that was selected for River to dance to is Already Gone by Kelly Clarkson.

GOD! I want the bloody DVD for Star Trek right now!!!!

Please review!


	14. Chapter 12: Alone

Yes! Working on this next chapter! As I mentioned before, a Firefly character is going to be either introduced or hinted! Gawd! I can't wait and I'm the bloody writer!!

Thanks to all of your love peoples!

Disclaimer: These two series/ movies are not mine but I do own the Serenity DVD and I'm a gonna get the Star Trek one as soon as it comes out!

A Reader in the Stars

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Chapter Twelve: Alone

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Montgomery Scott (call him Scotty) was a pure bred Scot and engineer. Machines and the advancement of technology were like a bone to him and he could never get tired of jumping into new and exciting things. That does not mean he was living under a rock or anything. He got along with people (other engineers) and he enjoyed having a drink or two and getting the latest gossip.

Which is why he was currently pacing in front of the entryway of the simulations lab worrying about what Commander Tam would say.

He had just yesterday knocked a commander off her feet, yelled at her, and did a very unmanly thing in fainting. By rights, his mum would have smack his brain out if she found out about this mess. Mum had taught him better when it came to ladies. However that was not the worse part.

The worse part of it all was that the girl was Commander Tam, the most popular commander among the cadets. Rumors have it that anyone who tried anything with her would suffer until he finally quit. Scotty had seen the damage to those that fail the warning. Uniforms being shredded to nothing during laundry, food processors failing to making the basic items, and loud alarms going off at odd hours of the nights were just a few of the tortures he had witnessed. Plus there was that Vulcan commander that rumors says she was dating.

He stifled a whimper. He maybe an honest to god Scots man, but there were some things that can not be ignored.

The door slid open and an annoyed commander looked at him. Scotty nearly jumped out of skin.

"C-commander! I was just about-"

"Quit stalling cadet." She answered drily before she grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.

Scotty could already see that a simulation of the ship from the PADD was already on and it looked like she was testing the mobility of it. With a few touches on the panel, the simulation changed to that of the oddest looking warp core he had ever seen. From the information that she had given to him, he understood that she was attempting to integrate the warp core within the ship in order to keep enough energy to do a warp. In a way it was ingenious and dangerous at the same time.

"As you can see, the problem with having a FTL drive on a ship this small is the space. However based on my simulations and the calculations of others, this warp core could probably take this ship to a warp six. I just need someone to build the system." She explained as the simulation showed the warp core system and how it would work.

He could see that there was the main reactor that was set at the back of the second deck where a system of coils is embedded just a meter from the hull along the posterior half of the ship. They connected to the main engine thruster and along the two side thrusters with the odd extended contraptions.

"I see that ye added the extra extending thrusters for the FTL, but the problem ye got here lass is that it's dangerous especially if ye get hit." He said with a nod.

"I understand your concerns; however my question to you is that can you make it?"

Looking over the plans, he had to admit that it was possible for him to make it base on them alone. The commander was a genius in creating a system which would integrate with the ships power source and to have a backup during the warp to keep life systems functioning. A normal star ship would not need it since a normal warp core with a chamber was enough to do both.

"I hope ye got shields to go with it or this ship of yers won't last long with one tiny hit on the hull."

"Don't worry Cadet Scott. The plans are just plans. It's no good if my design for the warp core is impossible. I'm planning to have the shields installed once your experiments are probable." Commander Tam replied with a bitter smile. "The problem you should be worried about is the supplies to do it. I'm afraid the monetary funds are going to be coming from my own pocket and right now, the best I can do is offer you enough to make a small model of the warp core."

"Ye mean this isn't Starfleet sanctioned?" Scotty asked in surprised. He never figured that this wee bit of a lass would want to create a ship for the fun of it.

"While I may be popular here in the academy, Starfleet isn't interested in a star ship this small with a good chance of an exploding ass. Your work on this would be voluntary and only if you have time for it, cadet. I read your file and you are hoping to apply for the Enterprise. I know the captain for that ship and you need to be the best of the best to pull that off." She answered with a roll of her eyes.

"Ye bet yer ass I'm a going there! Have ye seen those plans for her?! She's going to be one well endowed lady! What proper engineer wouldn't want a chance to work under her?" Scotty cried out. He would have continued to rant except a light giggle got his attention.

Commander Tam was giggling and it looked cute on her. Scotty blushed as well and scratched the back of his head. At least she was not offended by his yelling.

"Sorry, but you reminded me of someone else. She loved ships as much as you do. Always defending her baby from the insults that everyone made of."

"What proper engineer wouldn't do that?"

"You're right. She's a proper engineer. She even made a homemade still in the engine room. It tasted like engine grease but it still got the kick." She said with a fond smile. Scotty stared at her for a moment before he fidgeted.

"Would ye like me to make ye one as well? Seeing as ye can't go out and order the real stuff." He offered. She smirked at that.

"If you failed in the warp core, a still would be perfect. Let us discuss about where you'll be making the warp core."

***

The term was almost done for fall. With just two weeks until the break, both cadets and professors were swarmed with work. River was stuck being in meetings after meetings with the other professors of her department discussing about the exams and the final projects. While she cursed in all the languages mentally, she knew she was not the only one to suffer. Spock was dealing with the same with a staff who could barely keep up with him since half-Vulcans apparently have the same tolerance as a full blooded one in physical and mental limitations.

Chekov, Uhura, Sulu, and Scotty were dealing with their own work. Scotty was dealing with his exams (his last ones before he graduates from his masters and actually starts working), making up his transwarp theory, and creating the warp core for River. He had a model working well enough to power a computer but nearly got himself killed with the multiple failures before. When he finally told her, the two celebrated by drinking good alcohol that Scotty snuck in while discussing about what to do about making the real thing.

It ended with nothing but River pouting about her money problems and dragging Scotty back to the hospital for passing out. McCoy yelled at her for getting a cadet drunk (never mind the cadet was nearly thirty) and for drinking underage herself.

Uhura was spending most of her time in the communications labs especially those that were made for long range. From what Spock had been commenting whenever they met, Uhura was showing an amazing talent in deciphering just about anything she hears. From the xenolinguistics to the clicks and chirps of the comm, she was able to understand it all. River often commented that Spock sounded like he was in love and her friend would deny it logically.

"Admiration and pride for a student is a common occurrence for an instructor. Cadet Uhura is one of the first to show complete competence in the field and I have no doubt that her career will go far." Spock had often answered.

"And like the rest of the people here in this academy, she's busting her ass to get into the Enterprise." River grumbled.

Both she and Spock were rather puzzled about the cadets' determination in getting assigned to the Enterprise. For Spock, a vessel was a vessel. While the Enterprise was on the way to be the most advance starship in its class, there were many other starships which were just as fascinating. The only reason he was going to be assigned to the ship was due to Captain Pike whom he respected. River was only joining because Pike asked her and she owed him one for getting her to join Starfleet.

Sulu was spending more time in the simulations labs and working on his doctrine in subspace theory. While flying was his passion, he was interested in other subjects and it was also a way to pacify his parents in being more then a pilot. River sparred and debated with him every chance they had during the term. Spock even joined in and offered to help. It was the first time the half Vulcan actually attempted to be friendly with Sulu since his initial disapproval of him.

Chekov was excited by the tactical exams that he heard about. Although his main problem was communicating with the professor. River found it amusing the way he ranted about the professor being an idiot and what the hell was wrong with the way he says his v's? Sulu had to stifle a laugh whenever the younger male complained and Uhura just smiled. Spock's response was to bring in a translator or to hire a tutor in speaking Standard properly.

McCoy (or as River fondly dubbed him as her Doctor) was immersed in his work. Just about everyone was impressed with him and his work. The only flaw that the staff had with him was that he was friends with Kirk. McCoy himself did not think of it as a flaw but as the inevitable that James T Kirk was and will forever be his responsibility. In fact, he had confided to River that Jim had named him his personal physician. She in turned confided to him that she had changed her own physician to him which caused McCoy to exploded in a multitude of curses before he pulled up her file.

River chided herself later for bringing up the secret since it ended up with a physical.

As for Jim, he calmed just a bit. There was still talk about him with female cadets or some female civilian and there was a fight or two at some random bar, but overall, he was doing well. In fact he was going too well. Already he completed at least two years of work by placement tests alone which scorch plenty of feathers of the cadets who had to work to pass. Not that Jim was a slacker, he worked hard and River had seen the young man studying from a PADD plenty of times. However his laid back attitude that he presents most of the time tends to piss people off.

Looking down at the PADD of her own Serenity, River sighed before placing it down to look at the PADDs that her students turned in on the Prime Directive. Most were the standard bland agreement on the Prime Directive is the correct course of action on an unknown or unFederated planet while Kirk and McCoy had more different and passionate papers. She had graded those first because she knew that they were going to be good. Uhura's paper was pretty damn good when she did the assignment.

A chime interrupted her musings and she called for the computer to open. Listening to the thoughts that entered her mind, she quickly stood and saluted to the man that entered. Admiral Komack gave a nod before he looked around. Tilting her head to the side, she motioned the admiral to sit down and sat after he did. The two stared in silence, eyes locked in a tense moment. The admiral looked away first.

"I believe you understand the reason for my visit." He said gruffly. She gave a nod before leaning back against her chair.

"I do. However I find it unusual that you would go for this course of action." She replied slowly as she gleamed more from his mind.

"This is the military, commander. And we do not deal with problems by dawdling."

"There are those that are better than me for your request." River pointed out quietly. Komack shook his head at that.

"For a mission such as this, you are the best bet. You score the highest in infiltration on the placement tests and the practical when you came. I would consider Commander Spock, however this is a purely attack only mission and it would look bad for Starfleet if the Ambassador Sarek's only son was placed in a highly dangerous situation. Vulcans are known to prefer on defending and the idea of offence as the best defense is not logical for them in a situation such as this."

"There is still two weeks into the term left. I highly doubt that Admiral Barrett will agree for me to leave with little to no excuse on why."

Komack only stared at her before she nodded her head. He had an excuse ready for her and she was slightly impressed that he would think of something clever and simple.

"I believe Barrett will be willing to allow your absence. Understand that no one must know about this. We've kept the situation quiet to prevent massive panic throughout the entire Federation since this type of act hasn't been seen for quite some time."

River nodded at that. She could understand perfectly what he was talking about. Her own memory of the aftermath of Miranda almost made her shudder. Fights had broken out in the Core planets and the Rim ones too. There were many protests and terrorist acts which forced the Alliance to hide behind the military.

"Your shuttle will leave in one standard hour. I suggest that you gather what you need and head out. I'll deal with Barrett for you." Komack said as he got up. She quickly stood and stared hard at the older man.

"Why? You don't trust me."

He was silent for a moment before his lips twisted to a smirk.

"You know why."

"I would still like to hear it."

Komack looked at his surroundings for a moment before something caught his eye. Taking up a PADD that contained the blue prints of the Firefly class ship, he looked and filtered through the information.

"I don't trust you, that is correct. Just about two years ago, you were discovered with no memory and no past. And yet you are a genius at an unparallel level that has not been seen in centuries. Your physical abilities are beyond anything that the human body can do. Plus your psi tests put most of our alien neighbors to shame. No one can be like that without a past. You only know your name. Have you gained your memories of your past yet?"

River stayed silent at that. He chuckled at the obvious answer.

"I would believe you an infiltrator if it weren't the fact that Commander Spock has yet to turn you in. I don't know if it's because you're controlling him or if in fact you are loyal."

"I'm not."

He looked at her in surprise. Raising an eyebrow, he silently asked her to explain which it that she was not to is.

"I'm not loyal to the Federation. Just loyal to my family."

"And where is your family?" came the question.

"Gone."

She could feel his discomfort. He had assumed that her family was dead and she had no desire in changing it.

"Interesting ship. I've never seen a design so unique." Komack stated, changing the subject and the mood.

"I have an engineer create a model of the warp core, but it'll be a while to get the funds to build the real deal." She replied easily. Komack nodded at that as he took a minute more to look at the plans. When he put it down, he began to walk away and out the office. Before he did, he stopped.

"Get out of it alive and the funds are yours."

With that said, he left River with her thoughts.

***

"This is illogical, River."

She sighed and shrugged her shoulders at Spock's statement. Personally she thought that stating the obvious was illogical since she was currently in a starship on a warp eight and there was nothing he could do about it.

"There is nothing illogical about doing my job."

His eyes narrowed just a millimeter and his lips tighten before he continued.

"I find it difficult to believe that Starfleet has an urgent mission for you that requires immediate assistance without acceptable time to prepare. What are you concealing?"

This was the reason why she commed Spock at the last minute. He was just as bad as Simon when it came to her doing jobs by herself. Logically he knew that she was well prepared for anything, but he also knew that Starfleet would use her for something dangerous. With the others, they all accepted her excuses. Well, Uhura looked a bit worried, but River knew that Spock was going to be obsessing about her sudden departure. And her Doctor just looked pissed off. Especially since he found out that she did not bother making an appointment in getting vaccinated for her mission.

"Dammit! Don't go to me if you get something!" were his words.

Chekov and Sulu had been disappointed that she was going to be leaving but had wished her luck in her assignment. Chekov kept on insisting that she made it on time so that they would leave for their road trip. He and Sulu were going with her on a one week trip before they all leave to their respected places. River was going to go to stay with Spock's family during the winter break in San Francisco while the boys were going back to their families. Also Scotty had mentioned that he would be going back to see his family before he came back to Starfleet. River teased that they might get the funds to pull off the real deal. He promised to bring in some more good stuff to celebrate.

"None the less, is it not an ethical issue in using your abilities to determine the state of the starbase?" he inquired coolly.

"Spock, all I'm going to do is talk with the staff," she began.

Well, she wasn't going to talk to the staff.

"I'm going to determine their state of mind."

More like kicking terrorist ass.

"Then I'll determine if some of the staff is better suited for a different position."

Then she'll high tail it out of there with no one the wiser – hopefully.

They stayed silent for a moment before Spock blinked and leaned forwards. River had to grip her hands together to keep from shutting the comm on him. Trying to keep information from her best friend was difficult because she was use to sharing with Spock. It was like that with Simon. So instead of kicking his ass like she did with Simon once, she made sure to be several light years away for a more peaceful confrontation.

"If that is the case, then I will accept your word for now. However, should I find myself correct in my assumptions that you are concealing important information, the phrase 'I'll make you sorry', will be instituted."

Pursing her lips, she could only nod and tried her best not to giggle. Spock could make her sorry when she gets back but hopefully, once he understood the situation, he would come around.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

Perhaps the plan of letting things lie with Spock and Uhura could do with a healthy push to distract her friend. Maybe an extended invitation to Uhura to visit her while River was living with Spock's family would do the job.

"All right. Now go do your job. The one where you're whipping half of those cadets to do a decent job in communications."

"Be inform, River. I will have someone listening in on the communications around Starbase 72. It would be a good exercise for one of the more capable cadets to practice in detecting informative chatter." He said with a neural look that looked almost smug. Rolling her eyes, she could only nod.

"Deal. Tell Uhura I said to have fun in listening to white noise." She drawled before turning the comm off before Spock could deny her comment. Not that he would in this case. Uhura was the best and she would be more through then any other cadet in the academy.

River sighed as she ran her hand through her hair. Idly, she wondered if she should cut it when she just realized that she forgot to call Jim. Not that she was leaving him out, but for some reason Jim never stood out to her except for their very first meeting. She could not help but think there was something missing from Jim. He was dedicated but –

Shaking her head, River frowned as she turned the comm on again. Her doctor will get super angry at her if he found out that she forgot to call Jim.

She left a message since he was out. Telling him not to screw around with her substitute and to be good for McCoy. She was about to shut the comm when something came to her. Pausing for a few seconds, she looked back to the comm.

"After this message there will be a file number and a pass code. I know you have been looking for this file ever since you got here. You need a certain amount of clearance for this and seducing cadets with rank aren't going to help you there. Don't think you're fooling me or McCoy. Good luck, Jim. I hope this will make you whole."

Shutting down the comm, River went back to sit on the bed. It would be another ten minutes before they reach Starbase 72. Pulling her knees to her chest, she thought about what it was that Komack was asking her to do.

Approximately six hours ago, there was an attack on the colony near Starbase 72. It was underway before word was reached to the Federation that it had been attacked. Once the word reached to the Federation, the terrorist had already taken control a majority of the colony. When communication had been established, it was revealed that the terrorists were a group of humans who believed that they were a superior species over the rest of the galatical population. They had already killed several alien colonists and displayed them on the view screen.

It was a family that was killed. First they were beaten with fists and feet before it advanced to heavy debris such as pipes and poles. Then the terrorists killed them before the worst came to be. Once the family were dead, their bodies were cut up, their skin peeled back to show the alien organs, and then the bodies were hung upon an arc of a building as a display. This was all recorded and shown to the starbase. The terrorists' demands were for a Federation officer to fly down to speak and sign the terms of the terrorists' contract in claiming the colony as a human only settlement. Additional terms include several known human extremists to be released from Federation prisons and supplies for colonization before the hostages would be released.

If demands were not met in six hours, an alien hostage will be tortured and killed every hour until then.

Looking at the chronometer, River could see that they only have two hours left. Two hours to plan a way to neutralize the threat and save the hostages. There were many plans that filtered through her mind, but she did not feel comfortable in executing them. In the past two years, she had finally gotten use to having someone to help her.

Simon, her brother, had been with her from the beginning, saving her from nightmares, and doing his best to treat her psychosis. Kaylee, the sweet loveable friend who played with her and let her help out in the engine room when Simon didn't pay attention always made her feel warm. Wash the joker never seemed to mind that she was crazy and behaved with her like she was normal from the beginning. Book the shepherd who was always trying to help her no matter how hopeless it seems. Zoe the practical solider who looked out for her and Simon no matter what the Captain was acting understood their situation. Inara who came from the same breed as River and Simon was compassionate of their loss of their old life. Jayne the crude man ape who knew what it means to take care of family admires their sibling bond despite how much danger the two represents for him.

And there was the Captain, the man who took them as his crew, who never left them behind despite everything in his gut that his life would be easier without them.

Now, she had friends she was counting on like Scotty and the warp core. There was Chekov and Sulu whom were her buddies that she out with. There was also Uhura who she loved to tease. Her doctor who never quit grumbling and also made sure that she was physically fine. Jim Kirk who seemed to enjoy teasing and irritating her at the same time was like a different kind of brother. There was Captain Pike who made sure to check on her periodically to see how she was doing.

And there was Spock, her best friend in all the 'verses combined. The one person who understood her best besides the Captain.

However, she is now alone. This was going to be her very first mission. She did not have the insanity that gave her the false courage and adrenaline to do the impossible. She also did not have people she could trust. A part of her wished that she never did learn those Vulcan meditations. At least she would still be crazy to not care about her own safety. Apparently being sane made people think about not only about themselves but of others as well.

"Stupid self preservation instinct." She grumbled. Too bad she couldn't stay as the 'little crazy person' that Jayne always calls her.

***

Looking up at the sky, he marveled how everything looked the same. No matter where he was, the sky was always up there for him. He wished that he could say that he would be up there with the stars, but it was kind of hard with the restraints and the heavily armed crazy people. Plus there was no way he was going to leave with all of these good people being held hostage with him. Especially the kids, gods those bastards had no shame when it came to killing non-human people.

However he was a realist and not a warrior. If he had a gun, he could shoot well enough to kill about five them before they riddle his body with whatever those things they called for guns have. Not that he had a chance to find out. Embarrassing enough, he was napping when the attack start and he was already tied up and hauled away with the rest of the population before he was awake enough to fight back. The bastards had told everyone that no would be killed if they stayed quiet, but one family had been taken away.

All of them could hear the screams and whimpers before the sounds of discharged arms cut it off.

Fury filled his soul for the second time in his life as he heard those screams. They were screams of torture, something he was familiar with for his own experience. He silently cursed the monsters for what they did. The family was a good lot of people. The father had helped him get a job and a place to stay. The mother had sometimes given him a meal which consists of odd but delicious ingredients. And the kids were always interested in his stories.

Now they're gone to whatever Maker that will take them. For a brief moment, he wondered about the religions that exist in this universe.

Whispers and whimpers were all the noise that the rest of the people could do. No one knew what was going on since they been confided to the conservatory made out of glass like material that made it difficult for anyone to come unnoticed. There had been only one announcement from the murders that the Federation was bringing someone to negotiate for them.

No good sons of whores.

Looking up at the sky once again, all he could think was that if only he knew for sure. Knew that there was someone coming for him at the last moment. But he could not find too much hope for it. One day he was living his life normally with just a bit more danger then usual and then the next he was somewhere that was beyond his knowledge. There were aliens living with him! That and he was eating decent food.

"Take my love, take my land

Take where I cannot stand…"

Hope for some reason still took over him. It was a gut feeling that some how, he was going to live through this with everyone here.

"I don't care, I'm still free

You can't take the sky from me…"

Like hell he was going to live through a Serenity here.

***

_Take me out to the black_

"Commander?"

Her attention snapped back to the present with the small gathering before. Blinking she thought for a moment that heard something familiar.

"How many hostages do they have?" she asked without any more distractions.

"From the scans alone the number is forty-two."

Less then what she expected. No doubt most of the colonists had managed to escape since they were converged outside of the colony for some odd celebration or another. That meant these terrorists were outsiders who probably chose this colony from its distance and ease of military control.

"However the problem right now is where the hostages are being held."

A vidscreen showed a picture of a glass building. It was a greenhouse full of wildlife from different planets. The shape of the building was a large wide dome. Just about every side and direction of the building was visible by the glass material. River could see the problem but something else tugged her curiosity.

"Where are the maintenance facilities? There has to be something that carries out the water and air." She pointed out.

"There is a small facility about 300 meters from the dome, but it goes underground and the exits into the dome are too close to where the terrorists are guarding the hostages." One officer explained. River waved her hand at that.

"It's fine. Let me worry about that part. Right now, I want ideas on how to get through without the terrorists aware that I'm there."

This order confused everyone in the room.

"But Commander – "

"I have no intentions in talking with those scums. We are the Federation. We will not give into these extremists because they have hostages. Taking them down will be easy enough, the problem lies with getting there." River said coldly with narrowed eyes.

For a moment no one said anything. All of them were frighten and angered that this young girl had the galls to tell them what to do. However she had issue an order and it was necessary that they follow.

"If we stage a crash near the colony, it would get you there."

Everyone turned to look at one officer who wore the blue uniform of the science department. It was Lieutenant Goto who looked slightly bored. He was short with a lean figure and thick messy hair that was not regulation.

"Explain." River ordered.

"We just need to make the terrorists think you crash a shuttle and with an explosion large enough for them to think that you didn't survive it."

"That's ridiculous! No one would believe that any of the shuttles would be faulty from the Federation!" one officer snarled in outrage. Goto just rolled his eyes at that.

"The commander asked for ideas, you got anything better?"

Silence draped over them and the officer who cried out just scowled. River pursed her lips and moved her body side to side before she turned to Goto.

"Do you have anyone in your personnel that is a non-humanoid?"

"Yes, but what do you need them for?" Goto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's true that we can't have the public believe that the Federation has faulty shuttles, however a crash is perfect. We just need to make the terrorists do the job." She said with a smile.

They were quiet before they burst into questions and outrage of the plan. The comments ranged from how the plan would work to questions of her sanity. The only person who was not in frenzy was Goto who was beginning to grin. Obviously he figured out what River was doing and agreed to the idea.

"I'm assuming that my subordinate will be communicating while the terrorists are under the impression that he will be the one doing the talks?" he asked lazily as he leaned on his elbows. River gave a nod at that.

"The terrorists have already proven their brutality over non-humanoid species. There's a high chance that they'll attempt to blow the shuttle from the sky if the officer is not human. What sort of weapons do they have with them?"

"Based on reports, they appeared to have disruptors and some rather outdated missiles. We're not sure how they got the weapons but the disruptors look like their Klingon or Romulan."

River gave a snort at that. Human purists using alien weapons – idiots.

"That should be enough to bring down a shuttle. Do we have anything that can be substituted as an alien corpse?"

All of them were staring her as she was crazy. Even Goto was wondering just what the hell she was going about.

"Are you saying that you're going to let them shoot you down?" he asked slowly. River gave a nod.

"It's possible. We just need something that can fool the terrorists that the other party died in the crash. Getting engineering to alter the shuttle is going to take too long and we don't have time. Once I get down, all communications will be focusing on the terrorists and only on the terrorists. I will communicate when they're subdued."

She could read their thoughts on her plan. They all thought her mad. How the hell would she be able to get out of a shuttle while letting the terrorists shoot her down? There was no way possible that she would get out of there alive.

"There is no – " Goto began. But River just glared at them all.

"That is the plan. You let me worry about the details on the landing. Now, get me a substitute body."

***

Uhura sighed as she rubbed her temples. Sitting in the long range lab was tiring, but she wouldn't get the practice without it. Of course the fact that Commander Spock had subtly asked for her help was just one of the reasons that was keeping her in here instead of going out with her friends. Not that she could blame the commander. Commander Tam's sudden disappearance was disconcerting. Chekov and Sulu were trying to figure out the reason why and Commander Spock could only figure out that Commander Tam was asked to Starbase 72 to conduct internal affairs of the crew. It seemed simple enough except why would Starfleet ask a professor instead of personnel from closer Federation planets?

So far, she only heard the basic chatter that goes through the wireless. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Yet.

"So listening into the latest news or are we eavesdropping on Starfleet?" a teasing male voice said behind her. Without turning around, Uhura flipped him the bird.

"Nice try Kirk, but don't you have some random female cadet to screw?" she asked drily as she adjusted the channel.

Kirk just smirked as he took a seat next to her. He had a head set on and began to fiddle with the equipment next to her.

"Why is it that every time I see you, you have to be so cold? We're all good friends here." He said cheerfully.

"Try again in the next century. What are you doing here?" Uhura snapped. The man next to her just shrugged his shoulders.

"What about you? Classes ended ages ago. I'm pretty sure that the xenolingistics club has already started."

She sighed at that. As one of the members, she should go; however this was more interesting and better than to remind herself that Jim Kirk was more than a playboy.

"Commander Tam just left three hours ago on some orders to check on Starbase 72. I'm just listening on that sector as practice." She replied blandly. There was no point in giving the man any more information. It's not like he would care that Commander Spock is speculating that something odd was going on that sector. Or that Commander Tam had commed to tell her that she would be gone for the rest of the term.

"But there's two weeks left of the term. Can they do that?" Kirk asked in disbelief.

"Apparently they did." She said grimly. A clatter and a sound of a chair being pushed back caught her attention to see that Kirk was leaving with a grim expression on his face. "Kirk?"

"Anyone leaving for off-world assignments are suppose to check for vaccination, Bones might have seen her before hand." Was the reply before he dashed out of the lab.

Uhura only sighed and shook her head before concentrating on the chatter. She could hear distance and broken chatter of several different communications. There was one communication confirming the flight plan of one carrier. Another was announcing a wedding for a high positioned princess and –

"…half an hour to send someone down before examples are made. Make sure they are of the superior species. We don't want a repeat of Commander Ta – "

"Nyota!"

Uhura swore as she jumped at the sudden contact of her roommate's hug. Looking over at the console she winced to see that her jumpiness had made her turn the equipment off, effectively cutting off the transmission and any chance to record for later use. Also there was that last bit of the transmission that distressing. It seems that something happened to Commander Tam. There was also the fact that the situation near Starbase 72 was not as innocent as it appears. However jumping into conclusions would prove to be fatal. That was one of the lessons that had been instilled into Uhura during all the seminars of the communication track. Her best bet would be to give the information to Commander Spock.

Shaking off her roommate's hug, she turned her attention to the Orion female and listened to the gossip while hoping that Commander Tam was fine.

If not, they were all going to have one angry Vulcan and one angry Russian teen ripping everything in their sights.

***

River was really grateful for the suit that Goto gave her. It was smart of him to think that since the smoke of the burned out hull and wires would have been distracting. And she needed all of her concentration on flying the shuttle since its maneuverability sucked like Simon's flirting skills. Or Spock's flirting skills.

Honestly, she could not wait for those funds to come in. Once she had that, Serenity would be built and she would have a real ship to fly.

Everything was going according to the plan. The terrorists allowed her to come in close with the shuttle before she opened a communication with them, transferring the call to the starbase and forcing one of Goto's men to take it. She had to smirk when she read the outraged thoughts of the terrorists before they ran out to start firing at her.

A few loop to loops, cork screws, and dives made a good show before one shot hit near the engine. Thus lots of smoke and fire filling up the shuttle. Breathing from the compact compartment of oxygen, River put in the coordinates for the crash before she grabbed a pack, strapped on a jacket, and ran to the hatch. Opening the hatch manually, River dived into the open air; keeping her arms tightly pressed to her sides.

The air around her whipped as gravity pulled her down. There was a roar that filled her ears and she could feel her heart pounding so hard that she almost believed that it would pop. However she couldn't help smiling before she spread her limbs apart. The jacket she had put on before she jumped reveled to have extra fabric that billowed with air leaving her with black sails between her arms. This was something she learned from the holovids when she was just learning about this universe. It had fascinated her that people could fly with just a specialized jacket and that they could stay in the air for a long time. Well, it was more to the fact that they were gliding on air currents, but it was still amazing.

Giving herself a quick look at the crashing shuttle, she was pleased to see that the smoke was thick and spreading, leaving her a camouflage for her dark outfit in the sky. Judging by the way it was flying, the shuttle was going to crash about 800 meters away from the colony. That would mean if she kept this up, she would be about 30 to 50 meters from the ship. That would leave her about a half a mile for her to reach the facility.

This was the bad part of her plan. She was now in communication silence and she had no idea how much time she had left before the terrorists start killing another hostage. From the way they reacted to the idea of a non-human officer, the terrorists have just proved that they were willing to kill non-human Federation officers to make themselves serious. There was no need to kill any of their hostages now, but the time until they do would be short.

Adjusting her arms to control her landing, it was a few minutes of riding the air currents before her feet landed roughly on the ground. Taking a few running steps to slow the momentum, River looked at her surrounding for a moment. She was hidden well in a thickly wooded area of the planet. Switching out the jacket for the tricorder in her pack, she scanned the area to see that the life forms around her were not dangerous.

Putting the instrument away, she began to run a hard pace, hoping that no would die before she gets there.

***

Spock did not say anything when Cadet Uhura gave her findings to him during dinner with Chekov and Sulu. The two younger males were discussing about what the transmission could mean while Cadet Uhura just watched him. It found it unnerving that she would stare at him so. Pushing that thought from his mind, he thought back to his memory of River's last communication with him. Her communication with him was that she was to go to Starbase 72 to discuss internal problems with the crew.

However what Cadet Uhura had uncovered was something that differed. It seems that Statbase 72 is involved with a conflict. Base on the transmission alone, he deduced that someone was threatening the Federation and that something must have happened to River or a commander. The whole name of the commander that was mentioned was incomplete thus lead him to another tangent of thought. Also the communication mentioned about a superior species. That was rather vague.

" – and we should take this up with someone who can do something about it!" Chekov snapped. His accent was getting thicker, Spock noted before he raised a hand to command their attention.

"Cadet Chekov, as of now, there is nothing that we can do logically."

This brought in a range of emotion that spread to all three cadets. Chekov looked outraged while Sulu and Uhura looked surprised at his conclusion. Before Chekov could begin ranting in Russian, Spock spoke once again.

"I understand the need to go after Commander Tam; however there are factors that are against us in doing so."

"What do you mean, Commander Spock?" Sulu asked as he clasped a hand over Chekov's mouth. Spock was grateful for the action. Cadet Sulu was close to River; however he was also level headed and listened to others before commenting his opinion.

"First is that Commander Tam was sent on a mission with little time to prepare. The fact that a substitute has been already set suggests that she had no choice but to accept the order."

"That would mean someone from a high position." Uhura said with a frown. Spock nodded at that.

"Correct. There are very few officers in Starfleet that are willing to demand Commander Tam for a mission alone. The next point is the transmission itself. Cadet Uhura, will you please repeat what you remember." Spock ordered. Uhura paused for a moment to recollect before replying.

"The beginning was a fragment, the middle was a whole sentence, and the last part was a fragment. It started out as 'half an hour to send someone down before examples are made.'" Uhura began. Spock held out his hand to stop her.

"As Cadet Uhura has just stated, we can determine that the situation near Starbase 72 is dangerous."

"The phrase examples are made suggest hostages." Sulu said with a frown. Chekov wrenched the hand away from his mouth.

"The hostages are going to be executed. Someone is going to execute hostages." The Russian said angrily. Spock nodded his affirmative.

"Correct. We can assume that somewhere near Starbase 72, someone or a group of someones are holding hostages and threatening to kill them if their demands are not met."

"But what do they want? The last two parts of the transmission only state they want someone of a superior race and that something happened to Commander Tam." Uhura said pursing her lips as her face formed into a frown.

"Maybe these people want to speak to someone that is believed to be superior. Like the Vulcans or the Klingons. These people could be an alien racists group who believe that one race is in fact superior to the rest. There are people here on Earth who do believe that the aliens who have landed here on this planet to be gods." Sulu pointed out. However Chekov shook his head at that.

"That would not make sense to kill hostages. Also, if they wished for a superior alien, Starfleet would have asked Commander Spock instead of Commander Tam." He said while stabbing his food with a fork.

"He's right. Plus something like this would be hot on the comms." Uhura added.

Suddenly Spock understood what was going on. If he was correct, then there was a good reason for everything to be kept a secret. Also it would not bode well for Earth if it reaches out to the comms. It also explained why someone in the high command would want River to take care of the situation.

"Cadet Uhura, the transmission, did the speaker speak in Standard?"

Uhura gave her affirmative on the query. Spock then asked his last question.

"Did the speaker have a distinctive accent to any alien race?"

She frowned at the question, remembering the voice and how it preannounced the words. Then she shook her head.

"No, sir. There was no hint of any – " she began before her eyes widen in horror.

"Uhura?" Sulu asked with concern. Chekov was the next to understand as he began to swear in Russian. The Japanese man only looked at them both in annoyance. "How about a quick statement for the slow one of the geniuses?"

"I assure you, Cadet Sulu. None of us believe that your metal capabilities are deficient. What Cadet Uhura and Chekov are realizing is that what race the transmission was asking for." Spock said gravely. Sulu had the look of a man who was trying to determine if he should feel insulted or just chalk it up that Spock was speaking honestly.

"Sorry, Sulu. It's that these people that are threatening the Federation are humans. And they are most likely supporters of the Homo sapiens superiority group." Uhura explained with a grim frown. Sulu groaned at that. He had heard of such groups before and thought them stupid, but he never thought they would have the guts to do something like this.

"Do you think they killed anyone yet?" Chekov asked in a worried tone. Both Spock and Sulu gave their affirmative. This surprised them both before two different expressions; one was indifferent while the other looked amused.

"Trust me Chekov, Commander Tam is like the genius of all geniuses to exist. I don't know why she's stuck teaching cadets, but if anyone can beat down a group of human racist SOBs, it's her. The situation must have been pretty bad if they needed her in hurry."

"I cannot say that Cadet Sulu has seen proof to his statement, however I agree. There must have been deaths and it would be counter productive if Starfleet uses a force that would make a point to the attackers' agenda. An alien force will only prove a negative light to the Federation as suppression against the human race." Spock began.

"But if a human officer of the Federation were to take the group on their own, it wouldn't be suppression, it would be justice." Uhura finished with a nod. Then she looked at the rest with a worried expression. "Can she take them down? If she was called in, what the hell was Starbase 72 doing?"

All four of them were silent as they thought on Uhura's question. It did not bode well that Starbase 72 was not able to handle the situation without help.

"As I mentioned earlier, there is nothing we can do. Commander Tam is alone now to handle the situation. She will return." Spock said as the others looked to him. Slowly, each of them gave their silent agreement to his statement before finishing up their meal. Chekov and Sulu left together, Sulu suggesting that Chekov do some light workout to get rid of the tension he had build up during their conversation. Uhura was about to leave before she turned to him.

"Are you sure that Commander Tam will be fine?" she asked softly with a looked a concern.

Spock stared down at her and noticed that her eyes were a darker brown then River's. The unique color intensified the whites of her eyes and went well with her features. It was a pity that her lips were tightly pressed for they were usually full and were made for the smiles that he rarely seen. As he thought of her question, he remembered the memories that River shared with him. How she escaped with her brother out of the facility that tortured her. How she managed to kill three men with only one glimpse of the scene. How she defeated a mad man who wanted to capture her. How she defeated a melee of men, Reavers, and Klingons without any harm to herself.

Then he remembered how alone she felt without her family. How she always touched him to reassure herself of their bond. How happy she was in gaining a new friend. How she longed to find her family. How excited she was to start making a new ship. How she felt that he was the only person to truly understand her.

For a moment, Spock had no idea what to say to give comfort to Cadet Uhura. River would be able to understand easily what to say, however he did not have such an advantage. He was half-Vulcan and it was preferred to look into the odds and the facts. Uhura was human. No matter how understanding she was about Vulcan culture, even she would need assurance of a friend's safety.

His body, however, knew what his mind was unable to comprehend.

A hand covered Cadet Uhura's shoulder and squeezed it. A look of shock appeared in those dark eyes of hers and Spock felt himself enjoying the odd look of wonder and something else in her expression. Maybe this was what River felt whenever she teased Uhura. He had to admit that it was a pleasant feeling.

"I cannot say that she will be fine. I can say that Commander Tam will return back to us. She would not say that she would return and fail to do so."

With another squeeze of her shoulder, Spock turned and walked away.

As he left, his thoughts turned on the interaction he just had with Cadet Uhura. It was an interesting interaction with her and he found himself hoping to have more encounters in the future. That is after he finds a suitable punishment for River in concealing such an important section of information of her mission.

***

River felt herself shiver at a phantom chill. For some reason, she felt she was endangered.

***********************************************************************************

GOD!!!!! Sorry for the late late late update, but my computer contracted a frakkin' worm and I had to kill everything, including the half finished chapter! So it took me two days to decide what to do before I deleted the entire system and reinstalled a new one.

Got myself Windows 7 and it is awesome! Best idea ever! I just felt bad about the chapter.

The original chapter was different then this one and I felt this chapter was the better one. Originally, River was going to sneak in and steal a shuttle, but I felt that it was not going too well. That and she would end up with most of Starfleet on her ass.

I thought about taking this chapter a little bit more, but I felt that you guys waited to long for this and I'll have to put River's meeting with the next Firefly character to the next chapter. I hope you liked the character's point of view.

The next update is another River's Musing and then I'll start on the next chapter.

Just recently watched Serenity and I saw major mistakes on my part. I freaked on it and then decided not to worry. I messed up, but I'm going to deal with what I got.

I like to thank all of the people who reviewed. All of you gave me great comments and pointed out my mistakes. You all helped me make this fic better than I thought it could be.

So just wait for the next part!


	15. River's Musings 3

Zoe and I were not close until Wash died.

Before she always had him to support her and make her feel like a woman instead of a solider like the Captain did. For as long as she could remember, the military life was all she knew until she met Wash. Even the Captain didn't think her as a feminine creature and Jayne was too fond of his manhood to try anything about it. At times she seemed just as unapproachable as Inara.

Now she has no Wash and away from the Captain, she's broken.

They had hopes and dreams once. Zoe wanted to raise a family with him. Wash wanted the same, but he also wanted stability for his family. He could not imagine raising a family aboard Serenity.

Now there is no hope for that to come.

I watched her often when she's alone. I could hear her thoughts on memories with him. How they met, how they would sneak in time to be affectionate, and how they laughed at making the Captain jealous at their successful relationship while he was stuck being a boob for Inara were some of the many thoughts that crossed her mind.

She would not accept comfort in another's arms. Her being was loyal to the end and her 'death do us part' ends at her own.

Being certifiably crazy helps when I hug her. She can't just shrug me off without being rude and she always excused it as being lonely with Simon and Kaylee together.

Soon I started to sneak into bed with her. It annoys her, but since I could hack my way into her cabin if she ever puts up the locks, she just lets me be. Sleeping with someone in bed is nice and Zoe's dreams always seem to calm down whenever I join her. Her dreams usually contain about the war or Wash. Sometimes she dreams about the Reavers. Those are the ones that keep me awake the most.

In the end, she got better. Before I awoke in this world, Zoe was able to go to the bridge without the bad memory of thinking it as Wash's grave. I even caught her fingering the toys that were left on the control panels. She appreciated that the Captain did not throw them away.

Sometimes, when I know she's close by the bridge, I play with the dinosaurs, doing renditions of what Wash use to play.

I hope that she's still okay. I don't know since I'm working on these physical tests. Running around in obstacle courses, shooting down targets, and processing simulations is what I have now. I've gotten used to sleeping with Zoe that it seems odd to sleep by myself.

Captain likes to think that I'm the little chick following her mama hen.

Zoe thinks he's all toughed in the head because he's so slow with Inara. I agree with her on that.


	16. Chapter 13: Reunion

Happy Thanksgiving! I finally got this up after a frakkin' month now.

I've been busy being distracted with Dollhouse, Castle, Blood, Star Trek, and Firefly. I've been watching these series to get a better idea for my fic, but it's hard to get a hold of Jim's and Bone's character without the influence of fanfics I've been reading.

Disclaimer: These two wonderful series don't belong to me. As much as I like to take credit for it, I can only take credit in using them for a fanfic.

A Reader in the Stars

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: Reunion

* * *

Jim stared at the file that he currently had in his PADD. It was amazing that the one thing that he had been looking for his entire life was stored in a bit of technology.

Just an hour ago, he found out that Commander Tam had disappeared from campus to go on a mission. He had rushed over to the hospital where Bones was working and demanded to know if the commander had said anything to him. His friend just ranted at him about the commander giving him a comm and that she was already in a starship when she called. Did not even bother to check in for vaccination.

For a moment, Jim felt betrayed that Bones received a call and not him. He ignored it and decided to go back to the dorm to see if he could find out more.

That was where he discovered that there was a message left for him by Commander Tam. The beginning had the usual message that she was leaving and not to give any trouble to Bones. Jim felt disappointed that the young woman did not treated him like he knew she treated Bones. She was always playful to his friend while Bones just rant and yells at her. However with him, he felt like he was being reprimand for not meeting her standards, whatever they were.

It had looked like she was going to end it there when she paused before turning back. She had mentioned about a file and a pass code. Something about it that she knew he was looking for and that she hoped it would make him whole. He had thought it was some crazy idea like with that story she told him about the captain and his ship.

However, when he looked at the file number, he instantly knew what it was. For a long time he had stared at the file number and wondered how she knew that he was doing everything possible to gain access to it. Even though he was the son of the dead hero, he was not allowed to have access to this particular file. Oh, he had read Pike's dissertation and read the resources that were used, but he could not find anyone willing enough to give him the clearance.

It was the audio file of the USS Kelvin and the final hour before its destruction.

It wasn't that he never knew about his father. In fact when he was younger, his mother and his brother talked about him. Jim had seen the holos of his brother's earlier birthdays and some of the family moments. Although they were rare, he knew what his father looked like and how his voice had that deep rich quality that Jim lacked. However as the years went by, there was less talk about his father. Winona had slowly given up in a family life without her first husband and began to take long missions for Starfleet. Soon, Jim had begun to notice that the little mementos of his father were slowly disappearing until there was only the antique car that was in the garage.

When Frank came into their family, he had tried to be good. For his mother's sake, he had tried. But when Frank drove George out of the house and away from him; Jim realized that being good meant shit.

So his life changed right after he destroyed the car that was prized dearly by his father. He followed his instinct and lived life day by day. His education was spotty on the files despite the fact that he understood everything perfectly when he felt like applying himself. He grew passionate about life that interests him. Passion and sex were great when he found a girl to spend time with. Jim was no fool about there being long lasting love. His parents have proved that to him already. Machinery became a runner up. Repairing and riding motorcycles was rewarding. He could take all the time in the world and the machine would not complain about his life and his lack of ambition. Plus, those bits of gears and metals needed him to handle the problems and not create problems for him.

Commander Tam was right about one thing. He could have lived a decent life back in Iowa. In time, he could work at a garage and in a few years have his own shop. He could ride his cycle everyday and no one could stop him. Maybe he could find some nice girl to settle down and have some kids.

It was a life he could not go back to now.

The file had contained the last few moment of his father's life. From the orders given from the previous captain to the orders that his father gave before the destruction of the Kelvin, Jim could almost imagine that he was there twenty-two years ago. He could imagine the sight of the bridge falling apart from the damage that the Kelvin had suffered. The panic that the entire crew was going through as they escaped into the shuttles must have been heavy that Jim almost could not believe that they made it. His heart practically stopped when he heard the order that George Kirk gave to the pilot to leave as soon as Winona was on board. He could feel his heart break at his mother's request to see her husband – to not leave him behind.

Then Jim heard his mother scream as he came into the world.

It was amazing that he managed to come into the world as the last few minutes of his father's life came to the end. And then his father asked about him. For as long as Jim knew about his father, he was a man who loved two other people – Winona and George Jr. Now he understood that his father wanted to see him as much as Jim did. He managed a choked laugh when he heard his father telling him that Tiberius wasn't a name for him. Thank god his father saved him from that fate.

When the transmission ended with static that cut off his father's repeated declaration of love, Jim sat on his bed in shock and revelation. He didn't know what to feel now. For as long as he could remember, he had always wanted to know what his father had thought of him. And looking back at himself, he felt sort of disgusted at the way he had wasted his life.

Bones found him in the dark and lying on his bed when the doctor got back from his shift. Jim woke up from his sudden slumber when something landed on his stomach. Looking over to his side with a blurry visual of Bones glaring down at him with hands on his hips, Jim wondered if it would be a bad time to tell the older man that he looked like a mess.

"At least get into the covers if you're planning on sleeping your life away." The older man said with a scowl.

"And hello to you, Bones." Jim replied with a lazy smile. He expected a long rant out of his friend but was greeted with silence. Bones looked like he wanted to say something but was trying to figure out a way to do so. Looking down at his lap, Jim gave a dry chuckle at the PADD. There was no doubt that Bones had seen the contents. "Neat little thing. Got the file I always wanted and found out about the man that was my father."

The doctor said nothing for a time, just watching Jim carefully. It began to grate on Jim's nerves as he drummed on the PADD with an increasing pace of force. Then with a spike of fury, he threw the PADD away from and jump from his bed. Pacing back and forth, he ran his hand through his hair while muttering angrily.

"Why did she give me that file? Was it to tell me that I'll never measure up to him?!"

With a yell and a kick against his bed frame, he kept on pacing while Bones just watched.

"So he save over eight hundred lives and gets a day and a pat on the back. What about the rest of us?! His wife goes and marries the biggest asshole in the Midwest and just stays out in the Black through out most of said marriage. His eldest son gets pissed and runs away and me – "Jim snarls as he turns to face Bones. "I become the delinquent genius that needs to be dared and practically seduced to get into Starfleet!"

With each word, Jim went from snarling to shouting out his frustrations to the world. Bones just blinked before his hand reached out and smacked Jim on the head – hard. With a yell Jim rubbed his head and glared over at his friend.

"Are you done bitching about the unfairness of it all?" Bones asked in a neutral tone. Jim glared at him. What kind of friend would say that to someone with a past like his? "Because as fascinating as it is that you suffer from negligence and a daddy complex, there are people who have a worse hand than you."

"Like who? You? I mean I guess it sucks that your ex took everything from you, but at least I don't throw it at your face."

"You just did, idiot." Bones snapped as he glared at Jim. Then he walked back to his side of the room to take a seat. "And I wasn't talking about me. I was talking about Commander Tam."

This took Jim by surprise.

"What about Commander Tam? What could be so bad that her giving me the last few moments of my father's life is justified?" Jim asked with a bit of sarcasm. Bones gave him another withering glare before sighing.

"I thought a man like you would have found everything about her by now. You seem pretty obsessed with her."

Jim just shrugged at that.

"Why shouldn't I be? She's the youngest commander in the fleet. Her IQ is off the charts and she the best hand-to-hand combat specialist as well."

"If you bothered to look at the old news holos, you'd also know that she has amnesia." Bones said with a roll of his eyes.

"Amnesia? Seriously?"

"No, Jim. I'm just messing with you. Of course I'm serious. It's in her file." Bones snapped. Jim briefly wondered if telling him was okay, but if it was in the news then Bones wasn't exactly giving away patient information.

"Man that sucks. So she doesn't know anything about her life before?" Jim asked.

"Considering the fact that it's been two or so years since she had it – she doesn't know. And as far as I know, no one has claimed her as family or friend."

"But she's been in Starfleet for two years." Jim said with disbelief. Bones nodded his agreement.

"Exactly, so instead of going on about poor you; you might want to think that she's giving you something that she won't be able to have in a long time. Sometimes getting the truth of the matter means more then being ignorant and thinking shit about the world." Bones said giving Jim a reapproving look.

This time Jim had the grace to look ashamed. It was different that someone with amnesia with no one there for them. At least she managed to make something out of herself with so little to look back on. He looked over at the PADD that he threw and thought for a moment. Then he picked it up and looked over at Bones.

"My father was a total badass in the end."

"I don't doubt it, kid. I don't doubt it."

***

When she reached the maintenance facility, River did not know if it was too early to believe that half the jobs that gone down south in her life were due to Mal's bad luck.

So far her mission was a breeze between running from her landing to the building that she was currently leaning on to catch her breath. The terrorists hadn't bothered with sending a party to check on the crash and River thought that it was sloppy. Not that she wasn't grateful, however just because the shuttle did a nice crash and then exploded (that was something River didn't expect) a person should check for survivors. This was another detail for River about these terrorists. They are outsiders and not military trained. The weapons that they have must have come from an outside source since Starfleet did not keep weapons from Klingon and Romulus.

People are so confusing about what they want and how they get it. It reminded River about the time where Simon helped the birthing of a baby of a whore. That was when Mal slept with that woman – the one who owned the whore house. River had read the passion when the two had sex. At that time she didn't understand it, but now she thought back and realized that Mal had cared for Nandi. Even though he was head over heels in love with Inara, he cared about Nandi enough to have sex with her.

She wrinkled her nose at the thoughts. Mal's sleeping with Nandi, the madam of the whore house, meant to Inara that Mal didn't see her as a woman except that Mal did see her as a woman. Rubbing her head, River put those thoughts away. Love was confusing when people try to fight it. She hoped that when it happens to her, she would not be a boob.

Clearing her mind, River looked down at the access pad. Studying the pad carefully, she could deduce which numbers were used the most before her mind wondered on the number of combinations. While her mind wandered, her fingers hovered and danced just above the pad before one set of numbers was fixed into her brain and the fingers swiftly punched in the combination. Like magic, the door opened and revealed a narrow set of stairs that led down into a dark abyss.

Listening in both physical and mental sense, River quickly and quietly went down the stairs. So far no one has bothered with this place and she thought that maybe this whole mission was a crock. What kind of bad guys would attack a place and not hold a decent fort?

Maybe Mal was really made up of bad luck.

When she reached the bottom, she discovered that she was surrounded by dozens of pipes lining all around her. At least she had somewhere to hide in case one of those idiots gets the idea to check around here. Turning on the tricorder, River studied the map of the facility that she had downloaded before taking off from the starbase.

"Take me out to the black; tell them I ain't coming back." She sang under her breath. For some odd reason this mission was taking her back to her old life more often then before. Maybe because it reminded her about that time when Mal and Wash got captured by Niska and Zoe had to stage a rescue to save Mal. Looking to the side of her hip, she stared at the phaser that hung on her belt. It was different then the gun that she used when she killed those three men. Lighter in weight and it was warmer to the touch with the energy that store in it. Unlike the cold metal and the heavy weight of bullets that were used.

However them old fashion guns were still useful and were great in adding the manliness factor –

River blinked at that. Since when did she ever care about being manly? Stopping in the middle of the way, she took the time to review her thoughts carefully. It seems that as she was getting closer to the hostages, the more she thought about Serenity and the other life she had. Then she shook her head.

Whatever it is that is causing these thoughts would have to wait for now. She did not have the time to search through the thoughts to find the cause. Picking up her pace, River felt the knot on her heart loosen. With each step, she felt more confident. Soon she began to run towards the darkness with a grin hidden behind the helmet.

For some reason, she felt like she was coming home.

***

Leonard H McCoy AKA Bones, looked over at Jim before turning his attention to the PADD in his hands. His roommate had finally calmed down enough to start getting ready for a night out. Where to, McCoy did not want to know unless he was positive that it would be trouble. However judging by the way Jim was smiling and whistling, it seems that McCoy won't need to come to supervise.

Which was a good thing since he wanted to study the file. Ever since he became the primary physician for Commander River Tam, McCoy had little time to study the file in depth. It was a complicated file that consists of body scans of every system and included an interview for a psych evaluation. It wasn't everyday that a doctor could get access to a medical file of a genius rumored to be unparallel in the history of mankind.

A genius with amnesia.

"So, you sure you don't want to come?" Jim asked casually as he tugged on his leather jacket. McCoy just rolled his eyes.

"Let's see, go with you and watch you get lucky or stay here alone with some good music and a decent drink. I have to say, my idea of a night sounds pretty good here." He drawled. The younger male just laughed.

"Well, if you're sure. Don't wait up."

"Don't get in and make too much noise." McCoy replied with a look. Jim grinned and put up his hands as a peace gesture.

When Jim left, McCoy went and set up his drink. Commanding the computer to play some classic blues at a 20% volume, he settled down before activating the PADD. The beginning of it all was standard information. Name, age, weight, height, physical markers, and health were the top most part of the file. Young female of sixteen admitted to such and such hospital, blood type A, 5' 5", 94 pounds, suffers from light malnutrition, and more facts that any doctor could make from a tricorder alone.

It got interesting when the neural scan showed up. Based on the information alone, Commander Tam had suffered multiple lobotomies. The scars on the skull and the brain were about a few years old meaning that she had surgery during her young teenage years. Notes on this were that the patient may have suffered from torture based on the genetic testing alone, she did not suffer from any genetic neural diseases or she may have suffered from a serious injury. Most of the amygdale was removed.

McCoy barely noticed that his grip on the glass had tightened to the point where his knuckles turned white. He knew that what he saw was not an operation in saving a patient from a fatal brain injury. It was pure torture that had been done to the girl. The scars were too clean to be anything else. However that wasn't the cause of the girl's amnesia.

In fact there was no indication of the cause. No trauma to the head or drugs was found in the tests.

It wasn't until McCoy was half way through the file that he discovered something that made his blood run cold.

Commander River Tam's psi test was off the charts. In fact, McCoy could swear on his life that these were the highest he had ever seen on any being.

Everything after that was solely concentrated on the girl's psi tests. The girl is a mind reader of unparallel skill. In fact there was even possibility that she could do more. Test after test, the girl passed with flying colors. Bones watched the files with morbid fascination at the skill that was being performed. She didn't need physical touch like Vulcans do nor did she need much concentration. It was like she was listening to two conversations in the air.

Once that was finished, the file contained the dates of her placement tests for Starfleet. Each test was done within a few days of the other. The girl had taken placement tests from the most basic of college work to board tests for doctrines. All of it done in a little over a year. Not even Jim could do it despite what sort of genius the boy is. The girl was just as brilliant as a Vulcan.

And her physical tests were just as amazing. Reaction time was almost inhuman as well as speed. Her body was conditioned for combat and endurance. Combat battles were finished with her victorious without strain.

However McCoy could not find any signs of an amnesia patient recovering. There was no record of her reacting to any said object or person. Also there had been no indication that she was even searching for her past like most patients would do. For him, it seems unnatural. By the time he finished with the file, he gained a headache over his thoughts. There was a link at the end of the file.

Opening up the file, McCoy discovered that it was a series of interviews on Starfleet officers who were with Commander Tam on her first mission.

"_She just destroyed them. I've never seen anyone fight against the Klingons like she did. No human can fight like that."_

"_I don't know how she did it. She even dodged the disrupter bolts. Can anyone do that?"_

"_The commander fought efficiently and effectively in saving our asses. If she hadn't done what she did, we all would have been dead. Commander Tam's combat abilities are a class of their own."_

"_She may have saved our lives, but you didn't see her afterwards! She was crazy! Commander Spock had to get her to stop. And let me tell you, it'll be a long time before I go on another mission with her."_

He frowned at the interviews. Odd way of saying thanks to the person who saved their lives. However McCoy had to play the Devil's advocate. Whatever happened back on that mission, it was enough to scare away a few good seasoned men. It made him wonder if Commander Tam was psychologically fit to do a mission at all. As of now, there was no point for him to do anything other then think.

Setting the PADD aside, McCoy spent the rest of his night listening to the music and drinking. Wondering if he should do anything when the commander gets back or if he should take a leap of faith.

***

She could hear them now.

The panic thoughts of the captives, the thoughts of fury, anxiety, and anticipated glory from the terrorists practically rushed through her mind. However there was one thought that brought light from the others. The memories came at her and she was overwhelmed by the familiarity of them.

Her hands tingled as she felt warm leather and cotton over soft curves, a hand running through her hair with nails digging through her scalp with the just the right pressure, her heart began to pump faster as her skin tingled with kisses from full lips and River soon felt herself lost in the sensations of loving a woman who was not hers. Wrapping her arms around herself, she fell to the ground on her knees. She gasped for air as the memories and her own feeling took over causing her body to shake with sobs of relief and disbelief.

The relief came from two sources – one was her own self and the other was from the memories. She was relieved that she was not alone. Since the time she was here, River's biggest fear was never ever seeing her family. She had already lost her parents from their delusions of the Alliance, however the lost of the crew of Serenity nearly made her insane all over again. If it weren't for the fact that this universe had more justice and peace, River feared she would have gone back to her old life before Serenity.

The other source came from the memories of grief of the crew. River knew how it would turn out if they all saw him again. How much Kaylee would cry, how Simon would stare in disbelief but also relived like River felt, how Inara would pray to the gods in thanks, how Jayne would be in a mix of fear but just as glad, how much the captain and – gods! It was all too much for her to handle!

Slowly, River got up with shaky legs as she began to take deep controlled breaths of air. Concentrating on putting up her shields into the maze like structure as Spock's meditation lessons have helped her, her body began to calm down and her thoughts began to process into a slower pace.

"Doesn't compute. I think of all the possibilities and it does not compute. Theories upon theories of dimensional travel, space and time continuum and religion are proven wrong, however where is the variable? Where is the wild card?" she muttered as she paced back and forth just below the exit into the green house. Her mind was completely focused on this new subject. Shaking her head side to side to dismiss all the ideas that popped into her head, River tried to understand just how this point in time came to be.

"He died. I saw the body and I saw the burial. So if he's dead then I am dead. But doesn't fit. By order he should have been here before, but no. I was first." She mumbled.

"Of course you were darling. I choose you first."

Her arm snapped in action and her phaser pointed in the direction of the male voice. However River felt her heart pump in fear. She could hear the thoughts from above, but this person whoever it was, she could not read. Looking over, she sized the figure up.

He was humanoid. If one was to describe him, the person was a white male, height of a little over six feet, wearing an unmarked white uniform, dark eyes, dark hair cropped short, a prominent nose that was flat at the tip, ears stuck out slightly to the side, and his mouth was smiling. For a few moments, River studied the being before her. It was odd that she could not read someone. She was two minds about the experience.

One was that it was peaceful. It felt nice to meet someone and not get their entire history crammed into her brain. However that feeling was minuet compare to the fear and wary that course through her nerves. This was what normal people feel like when they meet strangers. It was a feeling she had forgotten ever since that damn doctor cut her brain up. River was half tempted to stun the man except she could not afford to bring attention of the terrorists too early.

"You are wondering about my presence here and I must admit it is a compelling story. In fact, I wish that there is someone else to tell it so we both can enjoy the event." The man said with a playful tone. His eyes danced and he drummed the tips of his fingers together as if he was watching a play folding out upon a stage.

River replied with the most sensible answer.

"I would like that as well."

The man gave a chuckle and he seemed to bounce where he stood.

"I knew it! Out of all the infinite universes, you are the one! Oh my, I wish we have time to discuss this more, but you my dear girl are a busy one. We'll have our little talk later without the ridiculous dramas of popular society behavior interrupting us. Bring your charming friend as well. After all, you're not the only one here."

His eyes flicked upwards towards the exit and River's eyes followed. However there was nothing threatening. Just as quick, her eyes went back to where the man was.

Only to find that there was no one.

Slowly, River lowered her phaser as she looked around the surroundings. It was possible that the man was hiding somewhere in the mess of pipes, however her gut was telling her no. She felt like she just met someone who was beyond her. And the guy acted kind of crazy. Was this how Jayne felt about her? If it was, River was not liking it.

While creepy, the man did have a point. She still had a mission to complete. No matter what strange and unnatural occurrences that appears, River needs to get this done. Even if the whole thing was pissing her off. Especially the part where that gou sai told her that he picked her – like a child picks a toy. Switching the phaser to her left hand, she pulled out a laser scalpel that Goto got her. The scalpel is small, however if a person knew where to cut and stab, it was deadly enough. Plus the thing can easily cut the nylon rope that the terrorists were using on the captives. Ignoring the phantom feeling of chafed skin that she read, River twirled the knife once in her hand before setting it on the highest intensity it had.

Looking up at the exit, she deduced that it was opened by the network only. Probably because it would be impossible for anyone to open it manually while still maintaining the natural design of the greenhouse. From her memory of the plans, there was going to be a five second wait for the exit to open and another five seconds for it to close once she goes through it. Ten second – short for some, but in this case, it was a long wait.

Taking a deep breath, River closed her eyes and listened. She could hear and through those minds she could see what they see. With each new thought she gained a piece of the puzzle that was the scene. Ten men with weapons – all of them human. They wore dark clothing and masks over their faces.

"Cowards trying to feel like gods but souls twisted by demons they fear." She mumbled absently. Her finger that held the phaser kept changing the setting. There was a dark part of her that wanted to end their lives while the other was finding order for the Federation whom she worked for. Then her thoughts turned to the preacher man she knew once. His mind had thoughts on killing when he joined up Serenity. She remembered his turmoil between his choice of a shepherd and as a man.

He had finally learned in the last few minutes of his life his balance between the man of the past and the man he wished to be.

The setting was chosen and River knew it was the right one.

With that decided, her right hand punched the release button for the exit.

As the ceiling began to part, she smirked as she felt one mind heading towards her location and put her phaser away. The mind belonged to a young man about twenty four or so. This was his first serious job and his heart was pounding from the anticipation of a victory that was sure to come. The group he had joined with was dedicated and he was a true believer in the cause. Those disgusting aliens with their inhuman features and their unnatural beliefs are against the will of God.

However this whole waiting thing was boring. The only exciting thing that happened was shooting down that shuttle with the alien officer. Those Federation bastards will take them seriously now. Still, it would do him good to stretch his legs a bit instead of guarding the hostages. It's unnatural that there are humans willing to live with these creatures. Didn't those people worry about God smiting them down for – hey, the ground is opening up.

With a powerful leap, River flew through the exit and grabbed the gun just behind the trigger to prevent any misfire and formed a fist around the scalpel. With a quick and powerful jab to the larynx, she effectively silenced the wang ba dan before she pulled him underground. Through the fall back to the ground, she gave out a powerful kick to flip them so that the man land hard to the ground with River on top. That blow knocked the wind out of his body and he barely registered anything that happened to him in the past four seconds before she shot him with her phaser.

With one down, River jumped back to the surface before the opening closed and she quickly hid herself behind a thick bush of greenery. Taking fast and shallow breaths of air, she looked to see the situation and bit her lip with concentration. She should have taken the gun from the man she took out, but there was no time to retrieve it. It would be easier to take down another and steal the weapon. Taking another look to see the one person who could make the difference in her mission to an all out success, she gave into a useless wish that it was Jayne or Zoe. Both of them were veteran and trust worthy fighters. There was also a bonus that they worked with her before.

"Beggars can't be choosers. Still better then Simon." She muttered before she clutched her scalpel tighter. Moving swiftly and as quietly as possible, she circled around and came close to two of the terrorists chatting while they kept an eye out on the captives. No one had noticed the missing man yet.

Studying the two careful, a plan came to mind and she put her phaser away once again as well as the scalpel. Taking a careful look to see who could be watching, she slowly steps up to get behind them. If anyone could see through her helmet, they would have seen a grin forming from her lips and a determine gleam in her eyes.

Time to be the big damn hero.

***

He really hates being the hostage.

Before, he never thought being a bad guy was great, but compare to being a hostage, he'd taking the bad guy role any day. Plus being the hostage was getting pretty boring. The assholes kept yelling at them to look down and not to talk. Honestly, they were all going to die out of boredom before these bastards get to killing them.

The sad part was that the only bit of entertainment he had all day was when their hope for escape was shot down by those sons of whores. What kind of idiots shoot down a government ship and officer in a situation like this? These people were like Reavers!

And don't talk to him about needing to take a piss! These guys were like perverts – sad, psychotic perverts who watch people relive themselves and enjoy cutting up good families for asinine reasons. Plus there was no service for food or water. They've been stuck in this glass dome for nearly a day and everyone but the bastards were thirsty and hungry. Also it was getting boring just staring on the ground.

It's not like they could identify theses guys with their stupid masks.

Time was ticking away, and those sons of whores had gloated about needing another example. Several of the families whom were alien had choked back sobs and parents had to quiet their little ones. All of them were afraid to be chosen and who knows if those bastards will even left any of them go if the Federation gave into their demands.

Raising his head just a bit, he used his eyes to see as much as they could. Nothing really new, just good folk being held against their will and yellow bellied cowards acting big with their weapons. Moving his eyes to the side, he frowned as he noticed something new. There was a portion of the place that was unguarded – a huge portion. The guard did take breaks, but there should be another person there – oh wait. There is he is.

Weird, he didn't remember anyone being that short or that skinny. Nor did he remember anyone with the fancy head gear. He watched the guard stroll purposely towards them all. There was something odd about that guard. He could not put his finger to it, but his gut was telling him that something was going on.

A scream tore out and he turned to the source. It belonged to a little alien child who was struggling to reach to his mother who was struggling against two of the men. One of the men pistol whipped the mother who fell to the ground form the blow. The child was slapped into silence. He gritted his teeth at the violence. Even Jayne wouldn't have hit a child.

Unless it was a crazy brained assassin trained girl who stabbed him.

If only there was something he could do! If only these stupid ropes were cut and –

He felt his hands fall free from the rope. Surprise and shock filled his body as he turned to see what had caused the sudden change. Crouching beside him was the skinny guard, except now he could see that the guard was skinny for a reason.

"You have breasts."

"I know." came the reply. The voice sounded familiar to him. However the name could not come to him. "They're not as big as Zoe's or Kaylee's, but yes Wash, I do have breasts."

Hoban Washburne stared in shock at the odd person. How the gorram verse did this person know his name? No one knew his full name. Hell, when he found himself on this rock, he never told anyone his full name. After all, who the hell named his kid Hoban? Oh yeah, his father did. Shaking his head, Wash was about to say something when his hands felt a heavy weight and metal in a familiar shape.

"Don't have time. Just point and shoot."

"Hey! What are you doing over – "one of the bastards yelled before the female in black snapped her arm up and shot him before he finished. The sound of the odd weapon going off was a signal for Wash as he raised the weapon in his hands and aimed for the next guy.

The pull of the trigger and the recoil of the weapon made him feel liberated. Watching the bastard go down gave him a feeling of justice in getting one of the killers of his deceased friends. By the time he finished, his rescuer had just shot three in a row without moving. A memory popped into his mind as he watched the last one fall.

"_She only looked for a second, took my gun, closed her eyes – "_

"Wash!"

He felt someone barrel into him and he fell to the ground as a blaster fire missed. Another body fell on top of him, the sound of two shots being fired, and suddenly he felt embarrassed. If Zoe saw this, he would be dead or she would be laughing at him. He felt really glad that Jayne wasn't here to make crude comments. The other rolled off and jumped to her feet. She offered him a hand while she kept on firing.

"Wash, we don't have time. One got away with the boy."

That snapped Wash into action as he grabbed the offered hand and got up. As soon as he let go, a little knife like weapon appeared in the hand before it flash in a flurry of motion and a set of ropes were cut to free another captive.

"You get the rest free. There are two other guards hidden beyond that cluster of bushes. Restrain them all. They're to face the Federation." The rescuer ordered to the freed captive as she offered the knife. She then turned to Wash. "Come on. I'm going to need you to drive."

They both race towards the exit of the greenhouse as the prisoners were being freed. Someone was screaming something and Wash turned to see it was the mother whose boy was taken. He wished there was something he could say, however the only thing that would help her is getting the child back.

They met a cloud of dust as the last bastard drove off in a hover car with the child wailing. He cursed in Chinese as he looked to see if there was something that they could use. His eyes landed on one hover craft that he knew was easy to override and was probably fast enough to catch up. Rushing over, he pulled out the panel to cross over some wires to jump start the craft without the keys. The sputtering of the engine changed to a roar and he jumped into the driver seat while his rescuer pushed herself into the shotgun.

"Let's get this no good wang ba dan and send him to hell." He snarled as the hover craft shot out of town.

"Careful Wash, we need him alive."

"Really? Sorry if it'll inconvenience you, but that no good shit killed some good people!" he snapped. A hand reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

"I know, Wash. I know."

The sad part was that the blond thirty something man knew that she knows. Hell, she probably was living through the memories that those killers did to that family. She always knows more then any living being in the 'verse.

"What did they do to them?" he asked softly. There was a silence between them before she answered him.

"They suffered a hell that was worse then Reavers."

There was knot in his throat that prevented the words he wanted to scream to the Heavens. Instead he tightened his grip on the controls and turned hard to chase the craft ahead of them. The wind whipped his hair and his eyes began to tear at the dust that came his way. It made his driving a bit hard especially when the bastard began to lead them toward a set of cliffs.

Then something blocked it all and his world was tinted with some reading of distance between him and his target. It made everything easier on him and he turned to see the face of one River Tam glaring ahead at their target. He turned back and did his best to concentrate in catching up. Their quarry drove like a maniac and it was difficult to anticipate where they would turn next. River probably could do it, but she needed to do the shooting part.

"Never thought I'd be wishing for the days where we're the ones running." He yelled out. River fired a couple more shots before she looked over.

"Alliance or Reavers?"

"Alliance. They're easier with their rational thinking. And prettier, you got to admit they're prettier."

She gave a laugh at his comment. It was good to hear it. However he had many questions and they mostly consist of Zoe. How was she? Is she here? Did she miss him? Is he in the dog house for being gone for so long? And where is everyone else?

"Questions later. He's planning to throw the child out." Came the reply to his queries. Wash cursed long and well in Chinese before his mind got to thinking. Their best bet would be to get close enough for River to jump and beat the scum down. That would mean they need a boost to their vehicle.

"River – "he began but the girl was already working on what he was thinking. Wires were being pulled and cross while she had pulled out a piece of machinery he's never seen and incorporating it into the vehicle's components. Forcing himself to keep his eyes forward, he gave a pray that River knew what she was doing. Then he mentally apologized to River for doubting her genius, but seriously, she didn't know how to eat an ice planet!

"It was my first one. It's not like you ate your first one right." River snapped loudly. "In fact, you almost broke – "

"Hey! More on the doing and less on the reading. Thoughts are meant to be private." Wash hastily interrupted. Not even Zoe knew about that memory.

River grumbled but said nothing after that. He could hear the tinkering and an occasional curse when his driving became creative with the chasing. So far the guy hadn't thrown the kid yet, but it might be that he wanted some distance before that happens. That was something Wash was not going to let him have. His brain went numb as the rest of his senses took over. His eyes moved over at the readings on the visor that showed the distance and speed between him and the kidnapper. The controls to the craft moved at his will almost matching the one before it for every move.

The distance between did not close nor did it widen. It was making their kidnapper twitchy when the hover craft began to hit the cliffs and trees in its surroundings. The ex-pilot of Serenity swerved to prevent the debris from hitting them, costing him a couple of seconds. Gritting his teeth, he pushed the thrusters as much as possible. The craft wasn't the best thing to use; in fact it was as fast as the mule. However he was the better driver and he covered the lost with practice ease.

"River, not to be a pain in the ass, but we could really use that extra boost soon." He called out.

"I know. He's running out of space to run. He's panicking."

"And he's also going a bit too fast. The bastard is going to end up killing himself and the kid. You know those chases you see being done in the movies have nothing on real life. It's all about the speed for the entertainment. Never mind worrying about what the idiot in front of you is going to do or that if you go too fast – " he began.

"Done!" River yelled. Wash had to wonder if it was his chattering that motivated her or if it was just some damn good timing.

"Good. So, plan?" he asked.

"Plan is that we catch up, I jump on board, throw the kid to you, and then beat the bad guy."

"Wait a minute! I thought we were preventing the whole throwing the kid overboard!"

"We are. I'm punching it." She replied before pushing the screen on the odd machine.

Wash felt the boost hit him from behind as the distance was covered in less than a second. As he adjusted the sudden change in speed, he caught a blur of movement to his side. To be quite honest, this was going to be a first time that he sees River in action. Just about everyone else had seen her in action, but Wash had always been just a few seconds too late to see anything. He felt really bad about not getting to see her kick Jayne's ass. He would have something to mock Jayne about.

Well, at least another thing.

Time almost stood still as he watched River soar in the air and did a nice little tuck and roll on the back of the craft in front of him. The kidnapper turned to see her and pulled out his weapon to shoot at her. She rolled into the back seat and between the pause of two shots, she kicked out and snapped the weapon out of the man's grip. Turning to the alien child, Wash had the impression that she was saying something to him before –

"Of all the crazy shit she does!" he yells as he snapped the controls to a hard right, making it spin in the air. Despite the spinning, Wash kept his eyes on the airborne child who looked too shocked or scared to scream. Or maybe he was screaming and he couldn't hear it because it was too high, like a dog whistle.

The child disappeared from his sight and he adjusted the craft from the spin and felt the blood collecting to his head. He had stopped the craft and it was currently upside down – way cool and utterly freaky. Looking around, he could see the child falling below him (or was it above him) and he cut the gravity buffers – letting the car fall naturally via gravity. What he was doing was crazy and he'll probably end up killing himself and the kid.

Adjusting the thrusters, he managed to control the craft to change the position of the freefall. The vertical position was allowing more speed and he was catching up to the kid. Even though they were both getting close to the ground. With each second, Wash could see the kid getting closer and closer until he reached out and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt. Yanking the child to him and enclosing him with as much strength on his upper arms, Wash pulled up with the controls, noting that they were getting close to a cliff wall in their descent, and hit the thrusters with everything they got.

Every since he got to this world and fiddled with the tech, Wash had plenty of time to day dream about what he could do if he drove in these mule like vehicles. While the tech was similar to what he was use to. There were still bits of surprises. One idea that came to him was using the gravity buffers and the thrusters to take a craft out of a dive at close range. Going at a high speed and turning on the gravity buffers at the last minute could cause the craft to literally 'bounce' from the ground without any lasting damage – like crashing.

"Might want to close your eyes, kid." He said as the ground got closer. It was difficult to tell if the boy was shivering from fear or if it was just the shaking of the freefall from the craft itself. The good thing so far is that the kid hadn't relieved himself on Wash. At least not yet.

His heart was pounding with each moment as the ground got closer and closer. The readings that appeared across his vision gave a countdown of meters before meeting the ground. Thirty meters, twenty-five meters, twenty meters – Wash turned the buffers on with so much force, it was almost amazing that he did not break the panel.

At first nothing happened. That moment nearly stopped his heart as he thought that his idea for a 'bounce' failed and now he and the kid would be crashing and exploding into chunks of burned flesh and bone. And then it happened. A shudder and then a hard jolt course through his body and he opened unexpected closed eyes to see that the cliff wall that was threatening them move away horizontally. His hands move the controls of the craft to give a wider breach from crashing and burning death.

"YES!!!" he yelled and laughed at his success. "WOOHOO!!!

There was a bubbling of hysteria and excitement as he turned the craft around to see what happened between River and the asshole. There was no doubt in his mind in who won that little shindig. Although he will admit later that there was a bit of fear when he saw the other craft diving towards them before pulling up in time to come side by side. However when he saw that wave of long brown hair and the smile on the heart shaped face of a little girl he once knew was crazy, he felt his body relax.

"Well, buddy," he told the alien child, "looks like we're going to have a boring but relaxing ride home to mommy. It's defiantly good for my blood pressure."

Then he remembered just what had happened a few minutes ago.

"You! You and your crazy genius brain couldn't have told me about this?! What if I didn't do what I did or whatever it is that I did?! We would have been dead! In a fiery, burning, can't recognize us dead!" Wash ranted while waving with one arm in the air and the other driving. River just raised an eyebrow that reminded him of his lovely fierce warrior wife before speaking in some weird alien language. Whatever she said had some sort of calming effect on the child who turned and gave a smile at him.

"Wash, cut his bonds." She ordered while tossing a sheathed knife that looked very much like a hunting one. He struggled in unsheathing it and managed to release the child without harming either of them. The child gave a chirp in his native language before crawling over to the shotgun and put the harness over himself. Wash gave a smile before he turned on River.

"This doesn't explain the crazy part."

She rolled her eyes at him before she turned the craft towards town. Wash followed close to her side.

"It's not like we had much time. Besides Zoe says no one can fly like her mister."

That brought a smile to his face before he remember the questions he wanted to ask.

"Where is everyone? I don't think Simon would let you do this on your much less Mal."

Silence came upon them and for a moment Wash thought she did not hear his question. Then she turned to him and he could almost see the sheen of tears in her eyes. A knot formed in his stomach and his guts were telling him that he was not going to like what she had to say. And he was right.

"They're not here. They're still back home on Serenity. Wash – "River began before she fell silent. Wash waited as long as he could as he saw the war that was going on in River's head.

"Come on. I can take whatever you have to tell me. I'm an adult and a man of his years. I faced Reavers, learned that the Alliance made them, dealt with torture by a man who is a certifiable monster, and resisted the temptation of YoSafBrig. I can take it." Wash began bravely.

Then his fears took over him.

"Don't tell me that they're dead. Please don't tell me that my beautiful sexy warrior woman is dead. I can take Jayne being dead but not Zoe. And Kaylee. And Inara. And your brother. And maybe even Mal. In fact, don't tell me at all. Let me keep my happy illusion that they're alive. But you will tell me that – " he rambled in near hysteria.

"WASH!"

Her yell shut him up quick and his attention was on her like lightening. He watched her take a deep breath before finally answering all of his questions.

"We're dead, Wash. Everyone else is alive, but we're dead."

Okay, maybe not the answer he was looking for.

***

River smiled as she watched the shuttle after shuttle of Federation officers entering the colony and securing it. The medical team was checking out all of the victims and the terrorists while the security team had taken down the dead bodies of the family and gather vids for evidence before trying to find the next of kin. She and Wash were already checked out by medical and Wash was currently hanging out with the little alien boy they saved. The child was in a hero worship mode which was entertaining for River since Wash was easily eating it up to keep both child and mother from being uncomfortable with the medical personnel.

She had already given an oral report of her mission and already discussed with several officers about what information should be given to the public. The news feed was delayed but it was only a matter of time before they start hounding them and River needed some time to get away to at least appear innocent to Spock.

However Spock ire was not number one on her mind. It was the fact that she and Wash have been reunited and that there was someone out there who knew the answers that plagued them both.

If she and Wash were currently dead in their old world, did that mean that Book and Mr. Universe were also here in this world? What about others who had died before them? How many who had died were here in this world and how many of them were their enemies?

Suddenly, River was glad that she had a position in a powerful organization and that she had some connections with Vulcan. At least she was able to protect herself and Wash once they return to Earth. She was pretty sure that she could convince Komack to allow Wash to join the Starfleet and Spock would be distracted enough to meet Wash to keep River out of trouble.

As she looked around her surrounding, she caught a sight of white and her eyes landed on a man in white. The very same man who had snuck up on her before the start of the excitement. They're eyes met and the man gave a cocky smile before entering a bar. River knew that now was the time for answers and she ran over to Wash.

" – and then Mal was like super shock because he had no idea that he got married." Wash said with a wave of his hands. He was telling his audience about the time when Mal found himself married on a Rim planet. River smiled at the tale, but she was going to have to interrupt.

"Wash? Hate to break this up, but you need to come with me."

He looked up in confusion before he shrugged his shoulders and apologized to his audience. It took some time to get away because the alien boy they saved hung on to his leg before his mother finally distracted him with a sweet. River dragged Wash towards the bar with a steady pace that made Wash stumble.

"Whoa! What's the hurry here? It's not like the Alliance is here."

"Answers. We're finally going to get answers." River replied with a grim look. Wash looked surprised at this.

"You mean you don't know?"

"I don't know because I can't read this guy's mind."

That made Wash stop and River turned with a frown.

"You can't read his mind? What the hell is he?" Wash asked with some panic.

"He's the guy who put us here. I don't know why and I don't know how, but we're going to get answers."

"You don't think it's God, do you?"

River gave Wash a look that could melt paint.

"No."

"How do you know? Wait, you can't. You can't read his mind! He could be God."

She shook her head at him before grabbing his ear and pull to keep him walking.

"OW! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Let go! No need to be offended!"

"He's not God. If he were, God wouldn't gloat."

River held onto his ear until they entered the bar. When she let go, Wash rubbed the tender area while looking around. There was practically no on here except for the bar tender wearing entirely in white. Not a good idea since the alcohol tends to stain. He followed River to the bar and sat next to her when she sat.

"What's your poison?" the bartender asked with a friendly smile.

"How about telling us who you are and why you sent us here." River answered before Wash could order. Wash looked over at the man who held the answers to everything that has happened to them.

The man gave an amused smile before placing two glasses of liquid before them. Wash cautiously took a sip and found it to be plum wine. River did not touch hers. The bartender simply shrugged and took the glass himself.

"So untrustful because you can't read. It makes a person sad." The bartender said with amusement.

"Not to interrupt, but River says you have answers to our questions like are we really dead?" Wash said with a nervous laugh.

"You are dead in one place and alive in another. I am here in your yesterdays, in your todays, and in your tomorrows. I am the answer to your questions in the universe."

This statement made the two humans silent in shock and fear. There was something that reasonable and insane about this being before them who was sipping his drink. Wash placed his drink with shaking hands before he asked the question he feared to know.

"Are you God?" he whispered.

"Don't be silly. I am not God. However you may call me Q."

* * *

Wang bad an - bastard

Finally! It took me a month to finish this, but I finally got it done!! How did you guys like the idea Wash being the first to reunite with River? This has been in my mind forever! Originally I thought about Jayne, but later I thought it would make more sense for Wash to come in. Mostly because there is little interaction between Wash and River in the Firefly series and I felt they need to bond.

Plus I think Wash is better at adopting in a new world than the rest of the Serenity crew besides River.

I'll do my best to start on the next chapter, but with finals and work and getting distracted by works of Joss Whedon (Dollhouse), it'll be a while before it gets done. I hope to finish the next chapter before Christmas!! If I have time, maybe even get two chapters done.

I got ideas for a pairing with Bones and I'm going to put it in later in the fic. It's going to put some drama later with the rest of the Serenity crew. Unfortunately it's not going to be River, but I felt this character is going to be good for Bones and Bones will be good for her.

Please review!


	17. A Reader in the Stars Christmas Oneshot

Due to an accident, the next chapter for A Reader in the Stars is lost and so is the computer that I use.

This means that I won't be able to post it out before the end of the year.

So while I try my best to save up the money and get the chapter going again, I'm using a PC at the public library to write up a Christmas fic to hold you all until the next chapter comes in.

Frak. It's a good one too. Sorry, I'm just getting pissed off thinking on the lost chapter with Q, River, and Wash.

This one-shot takes place in the distant future with the cast of Firefly and Star Trek celebrating together a Christmas party thing. There are going to be some small spoilers to A Reader in the Stars, however I'll still keep the secret to Bone's relationship and a possible relationship between Jayne and another female character.

* * *

A Reader in the Stars Christmas One-shot

* * *

River stared out into the expansion of space before her.

The scene of stars with the black space as the backdrop was comforting for her and it gave a special feeling during the more important dates. Touching the glass that made the difference between life and cold death, she smiled at her faint reflection.

"It snowed, it snowed  
It snowed last night  
Everything is sparkling with diamond light."

While the song did not fit the scene; she felt it was appropriate, however there were others who did not agree with her.

"River, we are currently in space, light years away from any life supporting planet with the conditions to create snow."

"Damn green hobgoblin is right about that. Unnatural to spend a holiday in space."

She rolled her eyes and turned to face the two blue dressed officers who stood behind her.

"You two are no fun. Aren't you supposed to be decorating the rec room?"

McCoy gave a snort at that while Spock only blinked.

"There's plenty of infants who are eager to do the job."

"I find it the activity unnecessary with the amount of volunteers whom are currently enjoying themselves."

River nodded at that. Just about everyone in this starship was eager to have some form of celebration since they received the news that they would not make it in time to their homes for the holidays. She could hear the bittersweet thoughts of the crew whom missed their families and those who had been killed in the Narada incident.

Pushing away from her spot, River walked to the table that held the cold cup of chocolate she had brought in earlier. Sipping the beverage, she made a face, but forced herself to finish it.

"What about you, girl? Why aren't you with the rest of them with the festive?" McCoy asked.

"Too noisy." Was her answer and it made sense for both the doctor and her best friend.

Kaylee had dragged Simon with her to join in on the fun and they were currently having a fight of throwing tinsel against Chekov and Sulu. Zoe and Wash were watching while talking with Uhura and Inara over tea. Mal was with Jayne in straightening a tree with Scotty slipping them some hard stuff. Shepard Book was currently entertaining everyone else by having a choir practice of hymns and carols.

A touch of her hand brought her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see Spock looking down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You are happy."

Smiling at him, she gave a nod.

"We're all here. Celebrating Christmas or whatever we're celebrating. It's nice."

"Especially with Starfleet ordering us apart for separate missions." McCoy grumbled. River smirked at him.

"You're lonely when you're separated? You should tell her that more often. Don't be like Mal and Inara. They took forever to be together. Jayne has better luck in romance compare to Mal."

McCoy sneered at her but he was unable to hide the flush of his cheeks.

"Rather illogical of them." Spock agreed. River bit her tongue from telling him off about his relationship with Uhura.

"Come on. We better join them if we don't want our captain to start a search party. All senior officers are required to participate, my ass." The doctor muttered as he walked away.

Spock offered his hand and River took it. It always seemed to be intimate; however both Spock and River enjoy the gesture. Mostly because for River, it still bothered Uhura a bit and Simon gets this look on his face whenever he sees his baby sister holding hands with a male. For Spock, he enjoyed seeing his captain look of shock, envy, and awe. Though it is curbed with Jim's teasing of being something called a 'playa'.

***

Simon laughed as he watched Kaylee chase after a frantic Chekov who already had silver tinsel mixed with his curls. If anyone told him years ago that he was going to be a fugitive and then travel into a new universe, he would have them committed. Now, all he could feel is being thankful that he had this chance at all.

Turning around, he saw his sister enter with Spock. Seeing their linked hands, he just shook his head and rolled his eyes. He knew that his sister did the hand holding to bother him. If it were anyone else other than Spock, he would have been against it. However, he likes Spock. The human hybrid's intelligence and manners reminds him of home.

He had to admit there was a tiny hope that River and Spock would be together. However it was dash away when River introduced Uhura as Spock's girlfriend.

A sudden weight on his back brought him to the present.

"Hey you." A breathy female voice teased in his ears. Simon smiled and turned to steal a kiss.

"Hey you." He replied softly. There was something amazing in making Kaylee blush.

"Yep, definitely swai." She drawled out in her accented voice.

"More swai then Captain Kirk?" he asked. There was a pause as she attempt to think on his question. He schooled his face into some form of concern although he knew that she was just pulling his leg – hopefully she was.

When the silence began to linger, he nudged her with his shoulder. Kaylee laughed at his insecurity.

"Yes. More swai then Captain Kirk. Although you sister may think otherwise."

Simon made a face at that. He did not like the idea of his bratty but beautiful sister being in any form of relationship with that man. There was something about James T Kirk that bothered Simon. Mal agreed with him and shouldn't the rest of the crew agreed with them?

"She wants him." A gruff male voice said behind them.

The couple turned to see Jayne drinking something from a cup. Simon had to admit that the Starfleet red uniform made the man ape look presentable. Not that they often wear the uniforms. But it was good to wear something that made them apart of society.

"Please, don't ever mention that again." Simon muttered uselessly. Kaylee only gave him a look of pity before turning back to Jayne.

"Don't he want her too? You'd expect that a mind reader would have it easy."

Jayne only shrugged at that. He was a simple man who knew how to express himself when he needed to. He saw no point in wasting time and effort over worrying. If two people want to get sexed, they should go do it.

"At least doc, you should be grateful that there's no mistletoe around yet. There be plenty of kissing and your sister is going to be in the middle of it all. Even I have to say she's turned out fine for a crazy person." Jayne replied and took another gulp from his cup. Hell, he'd probably take a number in that line. As long as the girl didn't have a butcher knife on her.

The young doctor gave Jayne a glare but said nothing. He knew the man was right about the mistletoe. Kaylee rubbed her cheek against his to comfort him.

"Well, she's a single girl and she should have some fun. And if something comes up between her and Captain Kirk, I say good for her." Kaylee said with a smile. Simon shivered at that, but kept quiet. He did not want to get into a fight with her.

"Yeah, and hope that Captain Kirk can run from Mal's aim. Ain't going to be saving his pretty face from the captain." Jayne muttered into his cup. Simon glared over at Jayne. Was there something wrong here? What about saving that pretty face from him - the brother? "No offence doc, but you can't aim worth a gorram thing unless it's Reavers. Plus, pretty boy captain can probably take you on easy."

"Don't say that! Simon's plenty fierce." Kaylee protest defending her man. Jayne gave them both a look that stated his disbelief before shaking his head.

"Only when he's drunk." a girlish voice replied. The three turned to see River smiling as she rocked on her heels. Jayne snorted at that while Simon sighed and shook his head. Kaylee looked to see that Spock was with Uhura at the table and that his hand was on her shoulder.

"So, ready for the celebratin'?" Kaylee asked gaily. River nodded at that while she grinned. Simon had a sinking feeling that she knew what they had conversed about earlier.

He was right as River pulled out something from her back and held it over Jayne's head. Standing on her tip toes, she gave a light kiss on Jayne's stubble cheek. Shock, the large man jumped and wiped his cheek while looking around to see if anyone witnessed. Unfortunately there were several who did. Mal had the look that was between laughing his head off or shooting Jayne in a place that do not shine. Shepard Book was shaking his head in amusement. Wash was currently covering his hand to keep his laughter from being heard. Luckily Zoe was not paying any attention although that alien was staring at him like - well, an alien.

"Doc - " Jayne began before River moved her mistletoe over to Kaylee's head to give her a peck on the lips which the redhead gave in readily. The scene turned his mouth dry before he shut his mouth and walked away. Hopefully the room that was set up for him was ready.

Simon felt his mouth drop at his sister kissing his - then he felt a set of lips on his cheek before River's giggles filled his ears and she skipped away. He could feel Kaylee poking his cheek and her mouth was in pout.

"You know, it was over our heads." she pointed out. Simon looked at her stupidly before Kaylee sighed and sealed his lips over hers. The feel of her soft lips over took his mind and Simon proceed to forget about bratty sisters who love to tease older brothers.

***

Malcolm Reynolds shook his head as he watched River Tam holding a piece of mistletoe over various people's heads and proceed to kiss them either on the lips or the cheek. At least she kissed Jayne on the cheek. The poor man would have been in shock and then keel over if lips were invovled. And he doubt that the good doctor would save the man. You can nearly turn the man in for money but anything with the sister and all best are off. Mal could almost feel the punch the doctor gave him years ago.

"River is in a festive mood." Book said as he walked beside him. Mal turned and gave a grin at the elder man.

"Girl has a right for a bit of fun. Although the good doctor doesn't seem to like it."

"No, however I'm sure that Kaylee is distracting him well enough."

Mal chuckled at that. It was good to see his mei-mei by heart looking happy with the doctor. When they had losted River, things had been bad between them with the doc grieving and lil' Kaylee trying to fix both the Serenity and his heart.

"It's a good time." Book mused. Mal looked at him with a questioning look. "Everyone here. It's a good time. We rarely did have good times to enjoy in our first life."

The captain of the Serenity gave a nod at that.

"That's is piece of truth I agree with. The Alliance was always on the trail." Mal than had a sly look on his face. "You never did say what your ties were."

Book smiled at his friend.

"And I never will. That was a chapter that has no need in looking back, Mal."

Mal sighed and took a drink from a cup he was holding. He almost choked at the strong taste. The captain gave a mental thumbs up in River's choice in friends. That Scotty fella knew how to tune a still. Even if he did sort of sounded like that Badger.

"Can't hurt a man for trying."

"No. However, I believe that now is a time for being with family and being thankful for our time together. Merry Christmas, captain." Book said as he gave a toast with his own cup of the hard stuff and turned to talk with the Doctor McCoy.

Mal toasted back and then turned to see River in front of him with mistletoe above her head. He gave a smile at her.

"Is it my turn?" he asked. She gave a nod and gave a peck on his lips. Mal laughed and messed her hair up in retaliation. "Don't go kissing everyone."

"I'm gong to kiss Sulu and Chekov and then make them kiss."

He shook his head at that.

"That's not right, River."

"No, but it is funny."

"Yes it is. Make sure you get it on a capture." Mal said seriously. River looked at him with a look that matched his.

"We call them holovids here." and she danced away.

He watched as River kept on kissing and teasing the rest of the crew of the Enterprise and the Serenity. However he kept his eye on one particular captain who seemed to keeping a close eye on River. Mal could not help it, but Captain James T goramm Kirk was annoying. And an infant. And too cocky. The bad part of it all was that only the doc agrees with him. Everyone else looked at Mal like he was calling the kettle black or something. Inara had the gall to laugh at him for his comments. Besides, the man flirted and slept with too many women of any humanoid species. The Doctor McCoy even admitted to that. Of course, Mal was being honest about his opinions and nothing was influenced including their first introduction between the captain and Inara.

Even if the man did looked at her like he was going to bed her in less than a minute.

"If you keep glaring at him, you'll just provoke him."

Looking to his side, Inara was currently standing next to him with a cup of hot tea in her hands. She looked good in a modified version of the clothes she used to wear back in their old world. The girls did a good job in trying to find something similar in this world. However, he was especially grateful that Inara was now really a part of his crew instead of being a part of that work.

"Maybe, or he'll have some common sense in leaving well enough alone." he replied as he kept his eye on Kirk. River was getting closer to the boy as she kissed the nurse (he thinks the name is Chapel - never mind, it most defiantly was if McCoy's yelling was any indication) and he could feel his hand tighten on the cup.

"Leave them alone. They're both old enough to handle themselves."

"You mean he's old enough to know better. But that boy has some grabby hands on him. Or did you forget the news of him and that alien purple princess?"

"That was a customary greeting."

"Grabbing onto a woman's chest is not greeting - it's foreplay."

The beautiful woman rolled her eyes at the childish man.

"Like being drunk and getting married on a Rim planet?"

"Hey! That is not fair! People need to leave the past in the past. Besides, I was taken advantage of." Mal argued. Inara's eyebrow rose as she smirked.

"Well then, captain," she began with a twinkle in her dark eyes. Mal gulped as she moved closer in his space. He could smell the speice of insense and perfume that clinged to her skin. "I believe you're about to be taken advantage again."

With a smooth graceful move, she reached out and pushed his head towards her and their lips met in the taste of warm tea and alcohol. As his arms moved to enclose Inara's shapely body, he thought he did not mind being taken advantaged that much at all.

***

River nearly laughed out loud when she reached James T Kirk, captain of the Enterprise. His body was humming with nervous energy and his blue eyes were twinkling with mirth and excitement. In all honesty, she felt the same way. Ever since he cheated the Kobayahsi test, River couldn't help but be excited when they met. It felt like he was becoming someone exciting and new. Someone she could never be bored of.

"Hello Commander Tam." Kirk greeted her with a smile.

"Hello Captain." she replied.

They stood there, staring at each other. The tension slowly filled the space between them as either one was waiting on the other to make the first move. It was Kirk who broke the silence between them.

"We haven't had much time to talk since you arrived."

"We've all been busy with reports and meeting with Starfleet." River replied with a nod. Kirk nodded at that.

"I'm glad that everyone is here. Bones would have been miserable to live with you guys didn't come."

"He's always miserable. It's his default mode."

"Tell me about it. Those hypos hurt." Kirk muttered as he rubbed his neck at a phantom pain. River giggled at that.

"He's always gentle with me."

"That's because he's a Southern gentleman. Anything that isn't female gets the rough treatment."

"No. It's just you. You've been making him worry in the last two missions."

Kirk gave a glare over at McCoy who ignored his best friend for the lady next to him.

"Well, Bones doesn't appreciate the work it takes to being a representative for Starfleet."

"Funny. Mal and Inara do the same thing and they come out with less injuries than you."

Her comment stung Kirk and she could feel his embarrassment and frustration at her comparing him to Mal. River could not understand why he felt he need to compare himself to Mal. Malcolm Reynolds could not be compared to anyone. However his pain was something she did not like in him. Reaching out with both of her arms, she wrapped them around his neck and laid her head over his heart. The beat was steady and it increased in pace at their closeness. Taking a deep breath, River could smell the scent of soap, recycled air, and the male scent that cling to his uniform much like the first day they met. His arms hugged her around her waist and closed the distance between them.

She smiled as she felt her heart pacing faster and the feel of their clothed body flushed in contact. Looking up, River started at the blue eyes darkening in lust and something more. The attraction between them was wrapping her body in a heated blanket that made her sensitive to everything around her. Slowly, she raised to her toes, letting her body rub against his. Her ears caught the slight hitch of his breath and she felt the tension of his body grew tighter.

Her eyes were glued to his lips and the tongue that stuck out to wet them. She chewed on her own bottom lip as she stared before she moved closer. She sense his own face moving closer to her and that his were closing in anticipation for something that was going to happen - that was meant to happen ever since they met.

Sighing, River pulled his head down and kissed him softly.

On the nose.

His shock nearly had River laughing her head off, however it did allow her the escape from his embrace.

"Merry Christmas Jim!" she called behind her as she skipped away. She knew the look of disbelief on his face was enough to send Mal and Simon into gales of laughter. Which was why she was happy that Inara and Kaylee were distracting them. However it did not prevent Spock and Wash from sharing their amusement and from McCoy controlling his own laughter by burying his head in the junction of the neck and shoulder of his woman. The man was literally shaking them both with his attempt in control.

River turned to give Jim another look and was glad to see him smiling and shaking his head at her antics. Looking down for the moment, she hoped that next year things would be different. Maybe next year, Jim would make the first move. And maybe next year, she would be brave enough to make it through.

Stopping by a window, she touched the glass and smiled in contentment.

"Merry Christmas Q. Merry Christmas Mom. Merry Christmas Dad."

Watching the stars steady in their light, she placed her forehead on the glass.

"Merry Christmas, everyone."

* * *

I hope everyone liked the fic. It was the best I could do with what little time I had on the public computer. It's just a little taste of what will happen when the Serenity crew comes over.

I'll work my ass off to get that chapter done, but it will be awhile before it happens. So please be patient and wait. I'll get it done as soon as I can. Everyone's comments on the last chapter made me happy!

Merry Christmas! And have a Happy New Year!!


	18. Chapter 14: Q and Answers

All right! I finally got this part ready and going!

Disclaimers: Seriously, do I really need to tell you guys? Not mine and never will be unless Joss Whedon thinks that this fic is awesome and wants me to write it novel style.

A Reader in the Stars

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: Q and Answers

* * *

The two humans stared at the bartender like he was a dog that started to talk. Although Wash thought that talking dogs are highly probable since he currently exists in a different universe. There were aliens just a few meters away! And he saved one of those aliens!

"Wash." River warned.

Right, getting off track and Wash gave the guy, Q, his best glare. Or at least he hopes it's his best glare.

"Look, no offence or anything, but what is your name? Q is a letter and unless you're telling me that your mom and dad are called O and P, I think you need to come clean here."

Q only looked amused instead of offended like most people would be.

"Names aren't necessary for me, however you humans and many other races of living beings need to categorize and understand things. The best way for this to go on is to call me Q. Besides it's easier than some long boring name like Bob." Q replied with a wave of his hand.

"Bob isn't long." Wash countered.

"No, but it is boring."

"Q, Wash, you're being children here." River said as she pulled out her phaser and pointed it at Q. "And you, Q, are not answering our questions."

"River." Wash said as he held out his hands to pacify the girl. "No shooting the crazy man."

"That's because you haven't asked darling."

"But you know what we want answered and therefore you should be talking about our answers." River countered back. The blond pilot gave a nod at that and pointed at his comrade.

"I'm with her on that."

The other man gave a pout before he placed the glass down on the counter. He leaned forward on his elbows and his eyes twinkled with mirth. Somehow, Wash felt uncomfortable at this. River still had that weapon pointed at Q and the guy wasn't even fazed. Could this man even die?

"Tell me what you know so far and I will be willing to fill in the rest."

Wash looked over at River who kept her eyes on Q. Obviously, he was going to have to do the talking around here. He thought on what he knew so far and took a deep breath.

"According to River, we both died in our 'verse and she somehow appeared here about two years ago while I appeared around seven months ago. Except I'm pretty sure that I died before her. If that's what really happened."

There was silence as if the tension had settled in and Q looked like he was waiting for more. However after a few more minutes, the alien man looked disappointed.

"Is that it?"

Wash felt a flare of annoyance and after sharing a look with River, he knew that she felt the same.

"What else am I suppose to say? We died and we found ourselves in another 'verse! One with aliens! And crazy people who like to gut good families for no reason! What in the gorram 'verse do you want?!" he snapped. There was a whine of machinery and then a red shot was fired which shattered the glass on the counter. A snap and another whine signaled that the weapon was loaded and ready.

He looked over to see River holding the weapon with a grim face. Her knuckles were white and her eyes were steady in watching Q who looked more annoyed then scared that he was nearly shot at. None of the glass shard or the heated liquid touched his body. The man looked as pristine as he did when they first saw him. Then Q's expression changed from annoyance to smug.

"Must be frustrating that the gifts you once cursed fail you at this point in time. Silence is golden, dear girl. And now you wished to read me more than anything else in your life." He taunted with a smile.

Wash could see that she was tempted to shoot the man and he knew that he had to intervene before they end up with no answers. Thinking to River that she should put the weapon away, he slowly placed his hand on the weapon and slowly pushed it away from Q. It was a moment before she holstered the weapon and took a seat on a bar stool. Wash took his own seat and they both looked over at Q. The alien man pouted for a moment before sighing and rising from his previous position.

"Normally, taking one being from one universe to another is simple. The problem lies in making them stay put. No matter what, they always try to find their way back and most of the time they succeed. It's really annoying."

"Because each universe has an energy that differs from each other. A being from one universe is forever attached to the energy of their universe. Being placed in a different world upsets balance in both physical and mental sense." River pointed out with a frown. Wash only looked with slight confusion but said nothing.

"Yes, that little fact is rather stupid. However, none the less true. So I thought to myself, 'Self, what can we do to make them stay for good?' And it came to me like brilliance came to the stars that are born."

Q paused in some sort of trance that was either self pride or just a new type of day dreaming. Either way, it was awkward and it made the alien man look punch drunk. Wash cleared his throat a few times before Q realized that he had spaced out. He did not look embarrassed and only shrugged at the looks his audience was giving. Apparently the alien had no sense of humility.

"So brilliant thought came to you and then…?" Wash asked with an encouraging nod. Once again Q looked disappointed and looked like he was about to sulk when the mechanical whine signals River's eagerness to shoot. The alien man looked at River and sighed while rolling his eyes.

"Fine. My idea was to transfer your energy just as it expires into a copy of your original body made in this universe."

The two humans stared at the man in shock. Wash opened his mouth and closed it before he opened it again to say something. However his voice was lost from the thoughts that tumbled around in his mind. River on the other hand, recovered quickly.

"By putting in our energies into bodies infused and made with the energy force of this universe, you're forcing our bodies and minds to be balanced and in tune here. The more time we live in these bodies it allows the energies of our original lives to be changed to fit." She said with amazement. The discovery of how they arrived seemed to calm her down, but it was making Wash a bit panicky.

"Excuse me, but remember the part where he copied our bodies? We're clones!"

She gave him a look that told him he was being an idiot and Q looked at Wash with a pained look.

"Clones? That's harsh. What I did was so much more sophisticated than cloning. Human bodies are made up of mostly of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, with a dose of other elements. I copied your bodies from each little atom to the tips of your hair. No clone would have those scars or that interesting tattoo you have. Nor could a clone have the lobotomy scars that our dear girl has. These bodies you are living in are exact copies of your originals before you died. Have you not noticed that your muscles and your bodies' reactions are natural? Your energies accepted these bodies and I have no doubts that they feel like the originals."

Wash thought back about the chase and the way he shot that man. It had all been from what people call 'muscle memory.'

"But why us? Why did you give us this…this second chance?" he asked. Because this is what it is – a second chance at life. This is a world where River is free from the Alliance and he wasn't part of a smuggling gang or whatever they were back in their old home. He could get a good and honest job as a pilot and not get shot at.

Q looked at them both with a fond smile.

"Because I like you."

Silence descended upon the scene before both Wash and River looked away from Q. It shouldn't surprise them that such an infantile answer was the reason they were currently living in another universe. Wash was tempted to tell River to shoot the idiot man but just took a deep breath and turned to Q.

"Sorry, but I'm happily married. Even if my wife is in another universe, I'm still a married man. And I'm not interested in men. Not that you're unattractive, but I'm not interested." Wash said with a bit of nausea.

"You're not my type." River replied tiredly. Wash turned to her in surprise.

"You have a type?"

"I think living with a population consisting of males and females around my age group for two years or so would give me time to find one."

"Yeah, but your type isn't an alien right? Simon would blow his head off. But it would freak Jayne out." Wash mused as he thought of the possibilities. "Can't decide if Jayne's face is worth listening to your brother's bitching."

"You're assuming that they would come here when they die." River said with a frown.

"But they will."

They turned to see Q smiling at them. For a moment they couldn't breath. River grabbed onto Wash's arm as if to steady herself from the news that shocked them. In turn, Wash placed his hand over hers. It was difficult to determine if they were relived with happiness or if they were shocked at how easy this whole situation was becoming. However Wash thought on it and glared up at Q.

"When they're old? It'll be years before they die." He snapped.

"No it won't."

A sick feeling in his stomach was slowly spreading as he thought of his wife needing to die before he could see her again. The fact they would all die…

"H-how will it happen?" he asked thickly, trying to swallow the large lump in his throat. Q shook his head at that.

"No, no, no. That I won't tell you. It'll be some time before you need to worry about that. But I will tell you that those disgusting Reavers are not going to be the reason." Q said confidently. Then he paused and cocked his head. "Well, they're just going to be a small part, I think."

Wash reached out and grabbed Q by the front of his shirt. Then with an angry roar, he slammed the man against the counter of the bar. For the first time, Q looked surprised at the reaction that Wash was displaying. River only looked on passively before she lean over to get a closer look. The only sign of anger on her person was the tight press of her lips.

The blond had no idea what he wanted to do first, punch Q in the face repeatedly or shake him until the answers come tumbling out. His body shook with rage as he stared down at the face of the man who knew the fate of his wife and friends. Rising one fist in the air, he kept his eyes on Q before he threw all of his strength into the punch. Wash blinked just as his fist reached his goal and suddenly the face of Q was gone! Pain wrecked his fist as he howled at both the pain of fist against hard wood and Q thwarting the beating Wash was planning on giving him.

Turning around, he caught the sight of River reaching over towards Q who had disappeared behind him. Her hand was stretched out at the man's neck, but Q had caught her hand before it reached her goal.

"Naughty, naughty! Not nice of you to try a Vulcan nerve pinch on me." The alien teased.

"Would it have worked?" River asked calmly before she swung her other arm at him. It was caught in Q's other hand and he chuckled.

"Who knows? Now, will the two of you please calm down? I can promise you that the Reavers won't be touching anyone on the crew. Not even Jayne."

That calmed both Wash and River down. Wash winced as he checked his hand to see that he had split the skin on his knuckles and that there were some splinters. River turned quickly to him to check the damage.

"And you just saw medical. I'll steal one of the dermal generators and some tweezers." She murmured as she finished her diagnosis. Then River turned to look at Q again.

"So you like us. How soon can we expect them to come?"

Q gave a sigh and shook his head.

"It's no good to get that answer. You have some time before you see them again. Look on the bright side of it all."

"The bright side? Sorry, but I find that being taken into another universe, finding out that I had died once, saw aliens, meeting someone who has almost as much power as God, and now have to wait for my wife to die in our original universe to be on the freaking insane side here. Where is my gorram bright side?!" Wash snapped before he gritted his teeth to keep the pain from over taking his mind.

"Were you always this hot headed? I don't remember you being this hot headed." Q commented with a frown. River had to pull against Wash to prevent him from jumping the insensitive alien.

"Q." River warned as she strained her muscles.

"Fine." He drawled, making the single word into two syllables. "Think about it. If your captain or your wife were here in your place, what would they do?"

Wash stopped his struggle in reaching for Q and looked over at River. River in turn looked over at him and the two were quiet as they thought on Q's question. Their faces changed as their thoughts processed the possible answers.

"Get into trouble."

"Get shot."

"Get thrown into jail"

"Steal a ship."

"Start a fight."

"Shoot someone – wait, that's Jayne."

"Exactly!" Q exclaimed. "They would just get into trouble! This is something they aren't able to grasp their minds on. It's the same thing with the others. They would have difficulty in coping with this. You and a few others are able to merge well. Adapting to your environment. You, Wash, look harmless. A guy with a few skills and an easy going temper. Or at least I think you do. Anyway, no one feels threatened around you and that's a good thing. River, here, is perfect. A genius of unparallel level. With your smarts, you can be anyone you want. And now you have a high position in Starfleet. Don't you see what a chance you two have?"

"You're saying that we have the chance to help them establish a new life here?" Wash asked in disbelief.

"Why not? You know what kind of man your captain is. Help him live." Q pointed out with a smile.

While Wash thought on the words, River frowned at Q. There was something that he had just mentioned that bothered her deeply. Once again, she pulled out her phaser and set it to kill. Wash looked up with shock while Q made a face at her.

"Don't you get tired of pointing that thing at me?" he whined. His answer was a red bolt of energy that just barely missed his head and the sound of shattered glassware.

"RIVER!" Wash yelled and moved to stop her.

"Don't Wash." She warned and he stood still. "I want to know how many of us are here now."

"There are more of us? You mean that there are more people from our universe?!" Wash asked indignant. He turned to Q who looked sheepish. "Who?!"

"No more games, Q. You want us to help our crew; you need to come clean on this." River warned as she set the phaser up for another shot. This time Wash watched Q as the alien squirmed from his position.

"Just a few people. Possibly a whore and a Sheppard. And a psycho. They're really interesting people. Couldn't help it."

"My God! Are you like a child?! What's so great about the psycho?! Isn't Jayne or River enough?!" Wash yelled. Then he turned to River. "No offence though."

"None taken." River replied easily. "I just want to know which psycho he brought in."

"You think it's Nishka? He's plenty psycho."

"I'm thinking in terms of either the bounty hunter or the assassin."

"What about YoSafBrig? She's sort of psycho."

"Boring. She's just a woman with problems in identity and intimacy."

"Hey!" Q called out with annoyance. "I'm right here you know!"

Another shot was fired and this time it was just below the juncture between the legs. Wash winced at that, but said nothing else. It was low, but he was running out of patience like River was. They need to know who was here and who to avoid.

"The bounty hunter. I want to see if he could change. The assassin seemed like he was going to be fine. And Nishka is dead."

"There's one small blessing." Wash muttered. Then he thought on whom it could possibly be that was with them right now. At least they knew that Book was here. He was the only Sheppard that they knew of. As for the whore – no way it was Inara! The alien would have used Companion not whore.

"Where are they?" River asked. Q only gave a smirk at that question.

"What kind of fun would it be if I tell you?"

Before either of them could protest or shoot the alien man, there was a sound of an open door. Both man and woman turned to see a Starfleet officer staring at them in surprise before River cursed and turned back to where Q was. As she had suspected, the obnoxious alien was gone. Wash looked around in surprise as he tried to find where Q hid himself.

"Commander?" the officer inquired cautiously.

River gave glare before she calmed herself down.

"Yes, Ensign Timmons?"

"I'm here to inform you that a shuttle is ready to take you back."

She gave a nod before she turned back to Wash. He was still trying to see if he could find Q.

"Wash, we're leaving." Turning back to the ensign, she gave him some orders. "Please inform Starbase 72 that I will have a guest with me and that he will be coming with me back to the Academy. Inform Admiral Komack that my mission here is finished."

"Yes, commander."

Once the ensign left, Wash looked over at River with a smile.

"So, a commander? Didn't think you'd go into the military life."

"It was better than being stuck in some boring research lab. Technically, I'm an instructor. I teach Interspecies ethics and protocol." River replied as she led Wash out of the bar.

"Fun stuff there. Is it politically correct for those people to let you teach it? I recall a time where you sliced Jayne with the craving knife. A really big slash across the chest."

River looked at him with annoyance.

"I was hallucinating back then. I thought I was holding a paint brush and it had red paint. Besides, I really did thought he looked good in red."

He signed and shook his head at that. Trust good old River to make the past so simple.

"What about that time…?" Wash began. River turned to face him with a face that expressed her opinions on being up old memories.

"Wash, shut up. Or else I'll bring up your embarrassing childhood memories to Zoe when she gets here."

Wash shut his mouth and they continued to walk towards the shuttle that would take them back to the starbase. It wasn't until they were buckled in their harnesses that he whispered to get the last words in.

"Mind reading is cheating and unfair. And no telling my wife about the homemade rocket."

She only gave a smirk at that.

***

Spock was displeased.

He was displeased in a way that suggested that he would not accept anything less than a perfect in the finals. It was barely noticeable except that he found himself correcting the cadets at a speed that is 6.7% faster than his norm and that he was grading the PADDs at a scrutiny that he used on his own work.

Needless to say, the average of the class suffered greatly and he was once again re-grading everything after meditating for two hours.

The cause of his displeasure (not that he would admit to such a petty emotion) was the duration of time being spent without one River Tam. It has been nearly ten days, eight hours, forty-seven minutes, twenty-nine seconds and counting since River was called off to Starbase 72. She had not send out any communications to inform her friends of her well being and the news feed only mentioned about a raid in the colony near Starbase 72 that was detained by Starfleet.

So it was no surprise that when she did finally commed him, Spock showed a stoic expression. He was confident that River would not be able to physically detect his irksome reactions when he finally saw her.

"Don't need to be angry. It was a highly classified mission."

Apparently, even at a distance, River knew what he was thinking.

"I perfectly understood the mission was highly classified and that sharing such information is discouraged. However, may I inquire the reason of your delay in communicating me as you have promised before your departure?" he asked with a slight icy tone.

It was infuriating that her reaction to his words was a roll of her eyes and a pout. Spock tightened the hold of his forearms and briefly thought on the logic of keeping one's hands behind their backs.

"I did comm as soon as I reached Starbase 72. I just got caught up with the mission and the aftermath. Besides, there were reports to write up, people to interview, and – "

"I am aware of the activities that take place after a mission is completed, River." Spock interrupted briskly. "I am also aware that many of these activities can be finished here at the academy."

This time her reaction was more satisfactory. Her body gave a slight shift that singled her guilt and her eyes lowered to a point at the bottom of the screen. She pursed her lips into another pout before she sighed and her body sagged in defeat.

"I'm not on Starbase 72 anymore, Spock."

That caused his facial muscles to twitch just slightly and his ears to flick. If River was no longer on Starbase 72, then where was she now?

"If you are currently at the academy, it is a poor taste in jest."

"Not at the academy. At Starbase 1. Been here for the past week."

For a moment, Spock felt the urge to physically break the wall of his dorm with his skull. However, such a reaction was human and beneath him. Instead, Spock took a deep breath before he thought of his reply.

"Spock." She whined before giving a sigh. "Look, something happened during the mission and Admiral Komack had to be informed. We've been dealing with extra paperwork and meetings with him for the past week. We're supposed to be release soon. I promise to tell you everything when I get back."

That instantly perked Spock's curiosity.

"We? You will be having company with you when you return?"

His query brought a light in her eyes and a wide smile.

"You need to see it to believe it, Spock. Even I can't believe it. But he's real. And he wants to meet you!"

Then there was a ring and she made a face.

"Sorry. They need me again for another meeting. I'll comm and tell you when I'll get back. Bye!"

A normal person would have demanded for River to not shut the comm and that she explained more about what she was implying. Spock, however, was not a normal person – he happens to be a Vulcan human hybrid and such actions was illogical since River had already shut the comm. Instead, he thought more on whom it was that she referred to.

Based on her statement, this person was someone he should know of or about. However he recalled everyone of their acquaintance and none of them were currently residing at Starbase 1. He thought on it some more and decided that creating hypothesizes with little to no solid information would be foolish to attempt.

As for now, it would be good to inform cadets Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura the news that River was close by. Also it would prudent to inform them that she had been staying there for nearly a week.

Spock was sure that no expression was upon his face, however if anyone noticed the gleam in his brown eyes, they did not said anything.

***

Wash sighed as he stared out the window of the shuttle. Looking over at his side, River was currently napping with her head on his shoulder.

"Honestly, how can you sleep at a time like this." He grumbled before he turned to the window again.

It had been nearly two weeks since he reunited with River and learned about how their lives were going to change from Q. And it all consisted with meeting a man name Admiral Komack. A man that scared the living crap out of Wash more than he liked to admit.

River did most of the talking although he had to explain his part in rescuing the kid. He had personally thought that River was going to make up some bull shit story to get him a job. However River always surprised him in the past and it was no different now.

She told the whole gorram truth to the man.

And instead of calling for security and ordering them to be locked up in some mental institution, the admiral only mentioned that it made sense and then asked if Q was dangerous!

From then on, Wash found himself signing forms after forms for him to be instituted into the Federation. He was going to be pilot for the Academy. Meaning he was going to be working manual labor. The pay was decent and the place he was going to live in was only a few blocks away. It was going to be a nice little life until River pulls out another form from the PADD screen that states that he was going to be the pilot for Serenity once it was completed.

With Captain Malcolm Reynolds as the captain and Commander River Tam as acting captain.

"Here I am in another universe and I'm still the pilot to the Serenity." Wash muttered under his breath as he remembered the shock that lil' River was actually making a copy of their old home. Except the plans had some differences compare to the old Serenity. One was that Wash now had weapons to back up his threats in saving his wife from their captain's stupidity during Union Day – not that there is one here. Another is that the food should be better than protein mush with a replicator on board. Plus better furnishings for the cabins.

"Always will be." River mumbled in her sleep and snuggled deeper into his shoulder.

However what was currently worrying Wash was meeting River's friend – an alien. A guy alien who she says is like her brother. Only with an odder hair cut and stiffer manners. Wash could not imagine any one beating Simon as the most awkward being the in 'verse. There was also the fact that this alien guy knows of their origins.

The blond did not know if he liked the idea of another person with the knowledge of their universe. There were already two people who knew and one of them had put them here. The other had enough power to expose them and to destroy them socially if he chose to.

"Mal wouldn't like this." He said out loud. No answer was given to his comment. Watching the blue planet grow closer, he wondered just what Earth would be like. Would it be a crowded mess of cities like the ports back at home or would be it flat lands and scare greenery?

He felt the turbulence of hitting atmo, however it was different compare to back home. The shaking was quieter and it felt like a gentle rocking. This is the difference between a universe consisting of humans and a universe that has every imaginable living creature with intelligence. River had gave him a little history lesson about how humans were contacted with aliens. Apparently the Vulcans were the first to form a peaceful relationship and helped improved the human's technology to prevent them from destroying all of Earth's resources. Over the years, humans improved with their ability to travel in space to form the Federation with the more peaceful races and to form Starfleet a peace keeping armada which all species of living beings are a part of.

That did not mean that everything was peaceful. There were two empires of aliens who were currently against the Federation and they were not the independent that inspires pity type of groups. They were the types that Mal would be rebelling against.

Still, Wash cannot imagine Mal willing to work for Starfleet. What little his wife shared about their past is that Mal wanted to be free, to be a man living as he pleased. However he thought back to the last meeting they all had in their little mess and remember the look on Mal's face as he gave his piece with the piece of data in his hand. There was light in his eyes that Wash never knew existed. Not that Mal was a broody bastard, but he never looked more alive than he did in that moment.

It was in that moment Wash understood why his wife followed that man through the war and more.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

He looked to see River's brown wide eyes staring up at him.

"Yeah. Way better than the old records. Bet they don't have terra forming technology."

"Don't need it. There are worlds that are already habitable."

Wash stared down at the girl he once knew was crazy. With all the panic and the hustle of forming a new identity and living, he did not have much time to consider the female next to her. The two of them rarely had much contact other than meal times and the occasional job which required a crew meeting. In fact, River spent most of her time with her brother, Kaylee, and Inara. However what little interaction he had with her was always done in what they dub as 'crazy talk.'

Except ever since they reunited in this universe, River had been talking to him like a normal person – at least most of the time. A small pang of pity stabbed his heart as he thought that Simon should be the one here to enjoy this. Wash defiantly remembered how hard Simon worked on finding the right cocktail of drugs to help her.

"It was easier to be a person since no one was after me. I still hear the thoughts but I don't fear them as much since Miranda." She whispered.

"That reminds me, did we ever get – ?" Wash began.

"Mal did. They killed Mr. Universe, but he left a message for Mal."

The blond felt a wash of sadness for his old classmate. No matter what sort of cheater Mr. Universe was, he was still a friend. A sad way of rewarding someone who had helped them out.

"What happened after that?"

"There were riots. People got angry, terribly angry. I could feel it in waves in every planet we pass. The assassin let us go because he learned the truth. The Alliance got split apart and news feeds kept playing the recording." She answered softly. Then she chuckled at something she remembered. "There were some really crazy people who think Reavers should be treated as people."

Wash snorted at that.

"And I thought you were bad. At least you had common sense when it came to Reavers."

"Hmm." River agreed. "I killed an entire crew of them when we were buying time for Mal. I like being sane."

He looked at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"And I like it too. How did that happened?"

"Spock. He taught me meditation and it helps. Don't shake his hand or he'll read your thoughts. And it's rude to shake hands with a Vulcan. They don't like it."

Wash blinked and nodded. Right.

"So, how does one greet a Vulcan?"

"You do it like this."

Putting a hand out, River divided her fingers until it formed a V with two fingers on each side and the thumb close to the first finger. Wash tried it and had to use his other hand to form the shape. The pull of muscles unused to the stretch felt weird and made him want to close his fingers together.

"So they read minds? They can do what you do?"

River shook her head at that.

"Vulcans are touch telepaths. They need to touch you to read minds. Plus they happen to be three times stronger and faster than the average human."

"So your friend Spock is super fast, super strong, and can read minds if I shake his hand. Anything else?" Wash asked with a frown.

"He's also a genius even among his own people and he's half human. Plus his blood is green like the rest of the Vulcans."

"Green blood? Seriously? Shouldn't it be brown? Since he's half human?"

"I know. It doesn't make any sense, but he has green blood. He thinks the idea is stupid."

"Makes sense to me." Wash replied and River nodded with his comment. "So is Spock your only friend?"

He listened as River chattered on about some other people that she met at Starfleet. There was a Captain Christopher Pike who convinced River to join Starfleet. The impression that Wash got was that River respected the man and that he was a good captain. She then talked about a Hikaru Sulu who was a pilot like him. Unlike him, Sulu can fight with a sword – weird. Little sweet Paval Chekov who is a teenage genius and it made him feel old. Nyota Uhura who River says has feeling for Spock is good with languages. Wash felt that Spock was having love problems when River described Uhura.

It would be funny and sad if Spock acted like Simon with this Uhura girl. Last time he checked, Simon still did not have the guts to make a move.

"They had sex."

That got Wash to give River his full attention.

"Seriously? How? And did Mal shoot him?" Wash asked eagerly. She rolled her eyes at the last question.

"It was when we were holding the Reavers back. Simon finally admitted that he wanted a relationship with her. Made Kaylee pretty happy. After it was all done, they had sex in the engine room. Or was it the hanger?"

"Must have been noisy to hear it all in your thoughts." Wash mused

"No. I watched them a bit, but it got repetitive. Love, lust, toughing, smelling, tasting."

The blond pilot stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. Who knew that River was growing up to be a voyager? Of course having the ability to read minds and not having anything to turn it off would make one a natural voyager. Wash winced at the hard poke and the glare that the girl gave him.

"Sorry. Not a voyager. Just an unfortunate victim of witnessing public sex." He amended quickly. "So Spock's love life is pretty much dead."

"Trying to revive it, but he makes it so hard." She replied tiredly as if her best friend's love life was the answer to all the problems in the world.

"Hmm." Wash agreed. "The man can at least talk to the girl, right? Your brother couldn't talk to anyone unless it was about medical jargon. Remember the disastrous date he tried out with Kaylee?"

River groaned at the memory.

"Top three percent and he nearly sends her into the arms of a dead guy." She said shaking her head. Then she cocked her head to the side as she realized something. "At least my doctor has no problem talking what's on his mind."

"Your doctor?"

That brought in the subject of one Doctor McCoy and Jim Kirk. Wash laughed at the stories River provided him about the cranky doctor and tried his best to tease her about Kirk having a crush on her. None of the teasing affected her as she just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. At least River wasn't going to be romantically retarded like her brother.

They were still laughing about the second time River arrived to the hospital with a drunk Scotty (some engineer who was obsessed with engines like Kaylee– something Wash had to see for himself) when she stiffen and muttered something nasty in Chinese as they reached the hatch to leave the shuttle.

"River?" he asked. The girl waved a hand to signal that everything was fine.

"Spock is being petty again." She grumbled and walked out into the light.

For moment, Wash felt nervous. Despite the fact that he just survived living with aliens, a hostile situation, and being interviewed by an admiral of some military; he was fine because he had River on his side – except for the living with the aliens thing. However, now he was going to face River's friends. He was going to face people who knew the girl in this life. Despite the fact that Wash knew River in her old life; in this world, River actually made a life for herself. She made friends and possibly made a new family. It made Wash feel just a little sad, but he sucked it up.

He, Wash, is a man. And as a man he is going to get out of the shuttle and face reality.

After he gets his bag which he conveniently left behind.

Not that it was intentionally.

He really did forget it.

"Quit being a yellow belly coward!"

The comment spurred him to stick his head out of the shuttle to glare at her.

"There is nothing cowardly about forgetting my gorram bag! Besides, a man has the right to be shy in life at times." He defended. River gave him a look that screamed out 'moron' before she shrugged her shoulders.

"Homemade rocket."

"And I'm getting off right now. So! These are the friends you been bragging about?" he asked eagerly with a nervous grin.

Looking around, he studied the group who had surrounded River. It consists of three males and one female. Wash's eyes easily landed on the female first. She was around her twenties and very striking. He could easily understand why males of all species would be after her. Long dark hair, big brown eyes, smooth honey brown skin, and the legs – just like his wife! The girl would look awesome in one of Zoe's combat outfits.

Briefly, Wash wondered how his wife would look in that red out the girl was wearing and mentally drooled.

"Wash, meet Nyota Uhura." River said as she gestured to the only other female.

Quickly, Wash tried not to forget the image of his Zoe in cos-play and shook the hand that was offered to him by Uhura.

"Name's Wash. I do have a real one but I prefer to be called Wash."

"Call me Uhura. Almost everyone does."

He raised an eyebrow at that looked at River; thinking that Uhura would probably let the Spock man call her first name. River gave a subtle nod before she turn to introduce the others. Pulling up a boy who was about her height, Wash guessed that the youth with what Kaylee and Inara would call adorable curls was the Pavel Chekov – boy genius.

"You must be Chekov. River has been bragging about your genius." Wash said grinning as he shook the boy's hand. Chekov preened at the greeting before he smiled over at River. Goodness, Simon was going to have to learn how to aim if the line of guys for River was going to grow.

"And this is Hikaru Sulu."

A tall young man with an easy smile reached out to shake his hand. Wash gave him an answering grin. Even though he just met the man, something told him that he was going to get along with the guy. Although it was sort of hard to imagine that this guy could skewer him with a sword.

"Good to meet another fellow pilot." He said after shaking the youth's hand.

"Pilot? Starship or aero?" Sulu asked with a raised eyebrow. Wash laughed at that. Apparently this world was similar to his old one about pilots.

"Both. My old home was covered in clouds all year around. When I got old enough, I jumped at the first chance in getting out. Although I've been flying pretty small crafts. Used to dream about piloting a cruiser."

"Anything military?"

Before Wash could answer, another person step forward and the blond could only stare at the tall male before him with a mixture of wonder and slight disappointment.

The man who stood before him was probably the tallest out of them all. Unlike the other three newcomers, his uniform was black verses the bright red of the cadets. There were only two things that were odd about this man. One was the eyebrows. The brows looked like slanted lines that made the man look stern. The other was the ears. They were pointed like those old pictures he seen about elves. And that was all there was to River's alien best friend.

Secretly, Wash was hoping for something a bit more extreme.

There was a giggle that escaped from River and Wash gave a sheepish grin at her. She knew that he was hoping for Spock to be some sort of alien with blue skin and horns or claws. It would have been cool if he had scales too.

Simon would have fainted – at least Wash had hoped the doctor would have.

"Fascinating."

Spock (Wash assumed the pointed ear man was Spock) was studying him with an intense expression. No doubt the man was trying to figure out how a man who was suppose to be dead in another universe was existing in this one. However Wash could not help but smile at Spock. After, it was the first time that anyone called him fascinating.

"You must be Spock. I didn't believe it, but you really do – "he began before River cleared her throat and glared at him. Oh right, only Spock knew about their past.

Spock must have caught the clue and gave a nod at Wash. It took a moment for him to understand that Spock was greeting him. Raising his right hand, he tried to form the Vulcan hand greeting, but had to use his other hand for help.

"Hi!" Wash greeted as his hand struggled to maintain the V shape. He could hear a couple of snickers and Uhura looked liked she was trying to hide her smile, but none of it bothered Wash. What really mattered was what Spock thought of his attempt.

The alien only raised one eyebrow before doing the same with a swift and precise motion which made Wash slightly jealous.

"I welcome you here, Hoban Washburne."

This time the snickers were louder and even Uhura was chuckling.

"Hoban? No wonder you want everyone to call you Wash." Sulu said grinning. Wash only rolls his eyes and smiles good naturally.

"I blame my father for the idea and my mother for being too tired to care." He quipped. Then he looked at Spock in the eyes. "Please call me Wash. I have childhood nightmares because of that name. Even my wife doesn't call me that."

"I understand. Please accept my apologies in forcing the remembrance of unpleasant memories upon your arrival. I welcome you, Wash."

Wash thought it was a pretty wordy way of saying 'sorry' and 'hi.'

"No hard feeling." He replied. Spock looked like he wanted to say something else, but by then River grabbed the alien's hand and Spock said nothing.

"Talk comes later. News comes first. Term ended?" she asked to the cadets.

Wash only listen as the others chatted with River about what had been going on in the past few days since she left. Spock said very little. In fact the alien man looked like he was in a blank daze. It looked like he was in another world and River was just pulling him along. Occasionally, Wash swore the Vulcan muttered 'fascinating' under his breath.

Apparently the news around the campus consists of exams and Kirk.

Chekov had commented that the exam for tactics was more challenging then he had originally thought. In fact, only two people out of the entire term managed to get a perfect out of the class – himself and Kirk. Sulu mentioned that his own exams were completed and he felt good about them. He also mentioned that a professor wanted him to write an article for a journal by the end of next term. Uhura mentioned about how Kirk was worried about River's sudden disappearance and kept bothering her about her first name. Also she mentioned much to her irritation that Kirk had tied with her during one of their club activities.

"This Kirk guy seems pretty popular." Wash commented with a thought to River. She only shook her head at his thought.

"If you're talking about how he is with the female half of campus, then you're right. He hits on any pretty face he sees." Uhura stated with a roll of her eyes. Sulu shook his head at his friend's comment.

"You're just prejudice with him." Then he turned to Wash. "The guy maybe a ladies' man, but academic wise, he's good. So far, he's been up in the top 5% of his class and rumor has it that he's going to be moved up in our graduating class by next year. Besides, he's the son of a hero."

"Which gets him laid." Uhura muttered. Chekov shook his head at that.

"I do not think that Cadet Kirk takes advantage of that. I overheard some girls talking about Kirk turning one down after they mentioned about his father."

"I didn't say he uses his dad's hero status to get laid; I just said it gets him laid."

Wash grinned at that. Uhura's comments reminded him of Inara and her arguments with Mal. Arguments that consists of Mal totally misunderstanding Inara and Inara having to repeat everything in little words. His eyes caught a grin from River who gave a nod. Apparently she thought the same.

"Not only he gets laid, but he still has time to study and complete homework with top marks. That man is a genius." Sulu said with a bit of awe and envy.

"Like River genius?" Wash asked curiously. Spock, who had seemed to wake up from his blank state, turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"While the rumors and the evidence of Cadet James Tiberius Kirk's academic work are proven to be true, his intelligence is not at the level that River is at. River's intellectual level is above even those from my people in Vulcan."

Sulu leaned over to Wash.

"It's his way of saying that Kirk's smart, but he and River are better." The young man whispered. Wash chuckled at that.

"Commander, since we are all finished with exams, shall we celebrate?"

This question was asked by the youngest of the group who looked at them all with large brown eyes. Wash could see Uhura melt at the look and Sulu smiling widely at the suggestion. He had to admit, the begging that the kid was giving was similar to Kaylee's look when she wanted that gorram awful cake dress. Then Wash remembered what his wife said about the dress and her preference for slinky dresses. With the money he was going to earn, he should buy her a slinky dress as a welcome present.

"I believe a celebration is much needed, especially with all the questions that need to be answered by Commander Tam and Wash about the incident that Cadet Uhura discover over the long range lab." Spock answered coolly, however Wash for some reason felt that the man was being rather smug.

River sighs and shook her head at the Vulcan's comment.

"Wash and I need to see about his new apartment, but the mission is rather sensitive. How about all of you meet us at his apartment? I'll get the ingredients and comm you the address." She suggested.

The three cadets agreed before they left to do whatever it was that kept them from staying with their commanders. Spock simply stayed with Wash and River – her hand clasped firmly in his large hand. Wash studied the hands before he shrugged his shoulders. Maybe River just missed Simon enough that she was holding on to Spock closely.

"I admit that when River explained to me about your skills as a pilot, I was skeptical. Considering that she had very little to draw upon in her memories of you, I had doubts. However the mission that you recently assisted River with proves that your skills are very much needed in Starfleet. I find myself curious to understand why you accepted a position that if beneath your currently." Spock said as he looked down at Wash.

For a moment, Wash wished Sulu was here with him to translate all the wordiness that Spock just said.

"Yeah –"Wash began as he tried his best to figure out just what Spock was asking. "To be honest, your starships are a bit different than what I'm use to. It's simpler for me to work it out on a less complicated vessel before they start on me to pilot something more complicated. Once River gets the Serenity up and running, she'll be mostly what I'll be flying."

"No one can fly her better than Wash." River said with a smile. Wash laughed and scratched the back of his head at that.

"I admit that your idea of using the gravity buffer to create an effect of Newton's third law is rather ingenuous at the time of crisis. It shows that you have faced similar situations before your meeting with River." Spock commented while River began to swing their clasped hands back and forth. Wash got the feeling that the man was used to River's antics and did not seem to notice the action.

"Well, since River tells me you know everything, I guess it won't hurt to spill everything."

Once again, Spock looked like it was about to say something but stopped himself. Wash wondered what the Vulcan was going to say and what was stopping him.

"I believe you refer to the fact that you work as a smuggler – something that the Federation does not look kindly upon."

"You're right about that. But if I were to be fair, the Alliance wasn't good enough to help the people out. True, we smuggled stuff that people would find questionable and we do jobs that are against the laws of the government, but Mal is a good man. If there's a job that smells – he'll do the right thing." Wash answered confidently.

Spock looked at him and then River with a look that Wash could almost say was confusion except he was not positive. However all the Vulcan did was nod at the answer.

It was then that River stopped with a frown. Spock looked down at her and Wash was watching them in confusion. It seemed that they were having a silent conversation in their heads before Spock gave a nod and released her hand.

"It appears, Wash, we must continue our trek to your new quarters without River. Her primary physician has need of her and will take up some time before she will convene to the local supermarket for supplies with us. If it pleases you, we shall take our leave now."

For a moment Wash panicked at the idea of being with Spock by himself. Looking over at River, he could tell that the girl had no sympathy over his plight. In fact she looked down right annoyed.

"Don't worry. Spock knows where to go and it shouldn't take too long with my doctor. Besides, I need to comm several people before I meet up with you." She said as she began to jog at a different direction.

The two males stood here watching her leave before she disappeared around a corner. Then Wash looked up at Spock who in turned looked down at him. It was Spock who broke the silence.

"You are uncomfortable with my company."

Wash laughed nervously before he gave a nod.

"I mean I know you're River's friend and you kept her secrets and all, but we just met. So we're kinda like strangers here."

"You make a valid point. I have to admit that I find your presence here to be abnormal considering that I was given the facts that you have been dead for duration of time."

The blond pilot assumed that was Spock's way of saying 'it's freaky to meet a dead guy.'

"I however do understand that the universal concept of moving beyond the title of strangers is to converse to give each an understanding of the other in terms of preferences and taboos."

It took Wash a moment to figure out that Spock was saying that they should get to know each other.

"Sure. Did she ever tell you that you're almost as bad as Simon?"

"Constantly, however unlike her brother, I do not share his difficulty in speaking with the opposite sex."

Privately, Wash disagreed.

***

McCoy hates paperwork.

While his share of the job was not like that of the nurses whom did the bulk of the work, his job requires something just as bad. It requires the diagnosis and his opinions of the patient in recovery time. Which meant that he actually have to talk to the morons who got themselves into the mess.

He may not have the best bedside manner in the universe; however that did not mean he was insensitive about a patient's plight. If some poor kid got run over by a drunk driver, he could understand about the parents' emotional manner and the kid's fear of never living a normal life.

However if some moron of a cadet decided that playing in a chemistry lab without protection to create a new to get high and gets second degree burns for their troubles – you can bet your ass that McCoy was going to call it as he sees it.

So when the door of his office opened, he was about to explode on the person when he saw who it was. His blood turned to ice as he stared at the young woman before him and the serious look on her face.

"You want to know." She said as the door closed. McCoy sat back down on his chair and Commander Tam took a seat across from him.

Staring at her, he found it hard to believe that she could read everything that goes in his mind. Was it due to the fact that her brain was operated on? And if so, what kind of monsters would do such a thing on a girl this young?

"When I saw your file, I found it difficult to believe some of the results from the scans." He began.

"What they did was intentional."

A spike of fury pierced his heart when those words were said. How could any real doctor do that?!

"Why?" McCoy asked softly.

For a moment, Commander Tam looked like she was drawing herself into another world. McCoy could not help but wonder if she was reading his mind or if she was thinking about her past. Not that she had much of one – or did she know?

"Funny how all of the doctors I've met are willing to believe that the scars are from injury and refuse to believe that anyone would experiment directly on a living brain and you refuse to believe." She murmured before she appeared to pull herself out of whatever funk she was in.

"That's because I'm your doctor, girl." He answered, stressing on the word your. A smile slowly spread over her face and she nodded her agreement.

"That's right. You are my doctor."

For some reason, McCoy got a funny feeling that he was in for a world of chaos much similar to a certain infant cadet/roommate.

* * *

Finally!!!! The latest chapter is out for A Reader in the Stars!!!

Apparently I freaked out about losing the chapter. I forgot I made a backup just before the accident so not everything was lost. Plus, I got a new laptop for Christmas!!!

I hope all of you enjoy the scene if Q, River, and Wash. I had a fun time writing that part. I honestly don't know much about Q from the series, but I figure it's up to guys if you think it's the original Q or a different Q.

It's funny how you think long and hard about writing a fic, everything just changes when you do something. My original idea was to just focus on River, but now with people coming over from the other universe, things are going to change and I think it's loads better than what I originally thought.

I promise you that it will defiantly change how many of you think the fic will go once more of the movie plot takes effect.

Please review and wait for the next chapter!


	19. Chapter 15: The Bones of the Matter

Latest chapter everyone! Make sure to look a bit more after my ranting! Or you might miss out on something fun!

Disclaimer: I will not disclaim that Firefly and Star Trek are awesome. I will however disclaim that I do not owe the series or movies – mostly because I've never thought of them first.

A Reader in the Stars

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: The Bones of the Matter

* * *

"So, before we get into the nitty gritty, mind answering a question?" McCoy asked.

"I remember some things, not everything." The commander promptly replied. It took McCoy by surprise before he scowled.

"Give a man a chance to ask his question properly, girl." He snarled as he thought longingly for a glass.

"Got places to go and people to meet, doctor. What about you? Three cadets in ICU, second degree burns that require careful observation with the dermal regenerator, and the paper work that is require both in their medical files and their academic files." She answered with a small smile.

McCoy mutter curses about morons wanting to reach the next high before he pulled his thoughts together. Now was not the time to think about morons. Right now it was the time to thinking about the sanity of a Starfleet commander.

"Your file states that you have the ability to read minds. Your psi levels are beyond even that of known intergalactic species of the Federation and possible that of other alien species that are unknown. The doctor who wrote this report was pretty impressed with you." He began as he pulled up the file from his PADD.

"His eyes like pretty lights at a new toy."

He felt a shiver go down his spine at the answer. There was something introspective and ominous about her comment. McCoy knew that not everyone shared his ideas of treating all people as people. There were just some races that were too odd and fascinating to see as people. Was it the same with the people who had done those scars in her skull?

"There are no facts about your past. Are you – "he began to ask.

"I have 23 pairs of chromosomes, my blood is iron based, I have a skeletal structure of a female of a human, and all of my organs are in the same place."

"So were you kidnapped by another alien race? As stupid as this question sounds, were you abducted as a child?"

The commander leaned back against her seat and her eyes took on a glassy sheen. She stayed silent for a time and as the gap of silence grew, McCoy felt his impatience increase with each second. Watching her, it looked like she was lost in another world. He wondered just what sort of world she was getting lost into. Was it a world where all the thoughts she could hear are combining themselves into a blur of memories and words? Or was she lost in a world of past memories that she had once forgotten?

"My own people did this."

The words that she finally reveled shocked him in surprise before he leaned forwards to catch more. Watching her, he could see that her hands trembled and the fingers of her right hand began to move as if she were playing on an imaginary keyboard. Her eyes were losing focus and McCoy had to restrain himself from whipping out the tricorder in his desk to check if the commander was going into shock.

"Human nature – a complex and yet simple concept. How universal it is among everyone from one system to another. Emotions and thoughts are mixed like a pot of stew and difficult to differentiate between right and wrong. However we are greedy."

Pulling away from the image that captured her eyes before, McCoy swallowed as her eyes drilled into his own with a blank expression.

"Greedy for love. For money. For knowledge."

With each word she whispered, McCoy felt his heart grow heavy. He understood the truth of what she said. Back in his old life in Georgia, he knew of co-workers who cared more for fame instead of the people who depended on them. He knew that there were those who were jealous of his own talents that came from his hard work and made it difficult for him to work once rumors of his divorce came up.

"For power."

It was those last two words that made McCoy realize the answer. Her people probably found out her ability and used her as a human science project to figure out how she ticked.

"They laid a pretty trap all wrapped up in promises. The best programs for any learning girl to have. Instead she gets drugs, tests, interviews, and experiments performed upon her. They wouldn't let her be a little girl. No one came to visit because they don't know." She murmured. Then she blinked and looked at McCoy in the eye.

It was at that moment that he realized how much his body had stiffened when he felt the muscles of his back relax.

"Go into third person when you get episodes like that?" he asked calmly.

"I was three when I found a mistake on a mathematics text. Afterwards, my family recognized me as a genius. I could do anything I wanted. But everything was so boring at the time. I knew some things, but it wasn't like now." The girl said, ignoring his question. "I was their most successful subject."

The way she said that last sentence was a mixture of bitterness, sorrow, and irony. And McCoy understood what she implied.

"Dear God." He breathed. "They made you a psychic."

"They made me into a thing." She spat out the last word in disgust. "They molded me and fixed me to be their weapon and I wasn't the only one. But I was their only real success."

"GODDAMMIT! We need to report this to Starfleet! They wouldn't approve – "McCoy ranted but Tam interrupted.

"They are gone. Destroyed themselves with their secrets and the people went mad at the secrets."

McCoy took a deep breath before he released it and took another look at the girl before him. It was difficult to tell if she was here with him or lost in her memories.

"How did you – "

"Someone came to save me. I called for help and they came for me. Tried to fix me, but it was hard. Some days I was okay but other days I had hallucinations so bad that I was sometimes a danger to everyone around me."

By now she was growing restless and was running her fingers through her hair. McCoy could tell that talking about it was making her agitated. In fact he was surprised that she was doing so well.

"It was a secret that burned in my mind. Like a cancer that wouldn't go away. Once everyone knew about it, I was free. I was okay."

"Are you okay now?" he asked cautiously. This was the main point of the little talk.

As her doctor, McCoy has the right to prevent her from taking any off world assignments. By rights he should. She is currently still under eighteen and she has no real guardian to watch out for her.

"I am. The Vulcans has exercises for my mind and it helps. I don't go crazy and I can filter the images from my mind to reality. However strong emotions still effect me." She replied with a small smile.

"How strong?"

She pondered on this with her head cocked to one side and her fingers drumming on the arm rests of her seat.

"Sometimes lust or love, but it's getting better. Madness still causes a physical reaction, but it's been about half a year since I dealt with that."

"Since the incident with the Klingons. What about the mission that you dealt with recently?"

The commander gave him an innocent look.

"I was interviewing the staff of Starbase 72. There was hardly any highly emotional stress to affect me. Other than the panic over the situation in the colony."

McCoy snorted at that. Right, like she really did spent the time away interviewing. However he decided not to push just yet. He would save that for another time.

"The men that were with you on Alpha 12 were not comfortable with what happened."

"Who would? People wanted us dead."

McCoy glared at her thinking what he thought about the audio files of the interview that he heard. The blank expression on her face did not break. Briefly, he wondered if learning Vulcan voodoo was getting her to act like one of those stiff bastards. Then he had an amusing image of the girl with the haircut and the pointed ears.

She giggled.

"You would look horrible with that haircut." He grumbled with a grin. Then he got serious. "You know that I want to ground you until I'm absolutely sure about your mental facilities."

"Don't worry. I'll be grounded for sometime before they send me away. What happened before was necessary."

The doctor looked at her in surprise. What did she mean it was necessary?

Tam gave a grim smile at his questioning look.

"I suppose you want to know. Fifteen days, twenty two hours, and twenty eight minutes ago, I received an order to travel to Starbase 72 for a rescue mission. Six hours prior to my orders, a group of terrorists took over a colony. Many of the colonists were gone due to a celebration; however there were enough for the terrorists to accumulate hostages for the Federation to take over. However, base on the scans and the holovid feeds that the terrorists released, Starbase 72 was unable to react properly."

"What was there to prevent them from beaming down and taking over the damn place?"

"The terrorists provided examples if the Federation tried anything to save the hostages without meeting their demands. A family of non-humans were beaten, shot to death, and then were dissected and put on display. All of the proceedings were recorded and were sent to Starbase 72."

McCoy cursed darkly at the deeds of the terrorists knowing at the back of his mind that it was too late for the dead. He himself had a slight bit of xenophobia due to his own upbringing and environment; however he was not the type who enjoyed looking down on a person base on their DNA.

Unless idiocy was part of it.

"Once the situation was revealed to the council, Admiral Komack took matters into his own hands. He came to me about taking care of the situation."

"Wait a damn minute! You mean that an admiral ordered you on this mission?! That is an abuse in power and unsanctioned especially since your last physician never did check on you in your last out world mission!" He roared as he stood up.

The commander only shrugged her shoulders at that.

"Both parties preferred it that way. I unnerved her too much. Besides I had the highest success rate in completing the mission. And the rate increased when I recognized one of the hostages."

He was about to open his mouth to question her, but said nothing. The girl had been living in Starfleet for about two years; it might be someone she knew during that time instead of someone she remembered from her past.

"I can assure you though, doctor, I am fine in the physical and mental senses. And I doubt that you can do anything to prove otherwise."

The bad part was that Commander Tam was right. As of now, the girl acted well for someone who suffered as much trauma as she did. Everything about was normal – well as normal a psychic could be. Even if he were to place her on medical leave, he had no doubts she would find a way to go around it.

"And I suppose that medication will be unnecessary?" he asked with a sarcastic drawl. The girl gave him a tight smile.

"It would be unadvisable. I associate drugs with two different reactions. One is to make me sleep and the other for me to lose control. I'm done with drugs." Then she paused a moment before a rueful smile was formed on her lips. "I'm surprised I haven't become an addict yet."

McCoy however did not share the humor.

"You got a list of allergies? Seeing that you haven't even bothered with vaccinations other than the basics."

She only shook her head.

"They pumped me with every known drug in the 'verse and I haven't died yet."

"Are you okay leaving it like this?"

He had not meant to ask, but dammit there was something wrong with letting a group of doctors or scientists get away with torture! Commander Tam only got up and looked down at him.

"They can't hurt me anymore. Besides, over half of the doctors who worked on me are dead. One by my hands and the rest by their own failure. I have nothing to fear from them."

With that said, she left his office.

McCoy let out a breath that he held when he watched her leave. It frustrated him that he could do nothing about what had happened to her. Death sounded too good for those bastards; however he knew that she already had learned to let go, he should just leave it alone.

Taking up the PADD with her file, he placed a few notes and scheduled an appointment for her.

***

There was something fascinating about Hoban Washburne's awe of the city that Spock was used to seeing.

The human male had spent most of their walk turning around to take in the sights and making incomplete remarks on each new discovery. Much similar to that of a human child.

Spock himself had once experience such a feeling as a child when he visited Earth in the past with his parents. However he kept his awe behind Vulcan manners. Except his mother always had a small smile on her face every time she looked down at him.

According to her account, his eyes were rather wide and she teased him that they would fall out. His father did not disagree.

"Of everything holy! Spock! Look at that!"

The Vulcan turned to see what it was that caught his companion's attention. It was a large view screen which played a series of commercials of products and event. What was showing on the screen was an ad for an outdoor tachycardia induced entertainment park. Also called an amusement park.

He did not find the whole experience positive from the first time he went to such as a place with his mother. The safety mechanisms were not made well for Vulcans with their hearts located where the human kidney are.

Spock suppressed the urge to rub his side as he remembered the pain.

"I assume that you never had the experience of visiting an amusement park?"

Wash shook his head furiously as his eyes watched the ad until the end.

"Places like those are expensive and I need a whole day to see it. Plus being on the run and laying low tends to make it hard to find time." The human answered with a sheepish smile.

"You mentioned before that previous work was considered illegal based upon the laws of your government, but you mentioned that your captain makes the correct choice. I am curious as River believes the same and despite what I see, I find it difficult to comprehend." Spock said as he looked down at the human.

Wash gave a small smile, not looking offended as many humans would with his queries.

"You and everyone else in our 'verse. The way I see it, human nature is too complicated to understand. We're just too different."

The answer only made Spock frown in puzzlement.

"I am afraid that answer makes no sense."

The blond nodded at that. Then he slapped Spock on the back and shrugged his shoulders.

"There is no correct choice. There's only right choice and the wrong one. A man can do the job right and it would the wrong choice. Or he could do a job and make the right choice in not doing it right. That's the sort of man Mal is and the reason why River and I follow him." Wash answered. Looking up at the Vulcan, the pilot only shook his head.

"I'm not saying that to be annoying, but it's hard to describe a man you know will do anything to keep his ship and crew together. Even Jayne respects Mal sometimes and that guy would put a bullet in you if the money is good."

Spock raised an eyebrow at the statement. The human was correct that he found it difficult to understand how one man could inspire such devotion despite his role as the antagonist of a government. River's memories of the Alliance were painted in a negative light; however he saw the logic that made the Alliance as it was.

Wash saw the raised eyebrow and answered with his own raised eyebrow with a grin. Obviously the human could tell his answer did not make any sense with the Vulcan.

"Don't worry. Once you meet with them, you'll understand. Although, could you like do me a favor and freak out Jayne? It'll be funny if you like throw him across a room. Or if you wiggle your ears. Jayne totally freaks out if anyone wiggles their ears!" the man chortled with glee.

The Vulcan gave a tiny sniff at the suggestion.

"That is illogical."

"Bet River would agree with me. So where is this apartment of mine? Buddha be praised, I hope it's on the top floor. Hate to see the ground all the time."

The apartment was not the tallest building; however Spock felt that it was appropriate in terms of view and safety. The appliances were new and judging from the decorations of the apartment, River had hired someone to decorate the living area just before they had arrived back on Earth.

The colors were a mix of warm browns, yellows, and reds at the bottom while the top half of the apartment was colored in blues, greens, and whites. The furnishings were modern but comfortable and serviceable. In fact, Spock felt that River spared no expense for her friend with the most modern appliances.

"Wow."

Wash's reaction to the apartment was a positive one. The man was in awe and his hands touched everything within his reach. Spock raised an eyebrow as Wash gave a laugh and threw himself onto a red couch with a bounce.

"I believe that everything is to your satisfaction?" Spock inquired as he tilted his head to look down at Wash who looked up with a grin.

"Definitely. I guess there are perks in having a mind reader for a friend." Wash replied as his eyes looked up at the ceiling. Then he began to search for something. "You hungry? We could get a snack before we leave."

"I have no need for nutrition; however the replicator is in function if you are in need of some."

Spock watched as Wash picked himself up and walked over to the replicator before puzzling over the machinery for a moment. The Vulcan was about to offer help before Wash began his order on the touch screen and after a soft whine and a glow of light, Wash pulled out an apple and took a bite out of it.

After a few seconds of chewing, the human swallowed the portion before turning to Spock.

"Not bad for a copy. Better than the protein mush we ate back home."

"I understood from River's memories that it was the primary source of nutrients that you were able to have due to your budget and source of income."

Wash looked surprised for a moment before he nodded.

"Canned goods help spice up our meals, but we don't have much selection with each port we come across. Kaylee was the one who knew how to cook protein well enough to make it taste kinda different. Our world knew how to process food into tasteless mush but we can't make a replicator like this to get food to taste similar to the real thing."

"That is reasonable. The replicating technology was derived from Vulcan technology two centuries ago."

The blond nodded at that. They were silent as Wash finished his apple and disposed the core in the recycler bin. The silence turned awkward.

"Right!" the human exclaimed as he turned his head around in a search for a topic. Then his expression changed to one of discovery as he turned to face Spock eagerly. "Want to talk about Uhura?"

The questions surprised Spock even though there was no outward appearance indicating so.

"Come on. Don't be shy here. We're both males and talking about good looking women is the start of male bonding. Just don't talk about your pecker. We get enough of that from Jayne."

Spock gave Wash a frown before he composed his face to one of stoic coolness.

"Let me assure you, I have no intentions in discussing male reproductive features that represent anything other than what is necessarily informative. As for Cadet Uhura, there is little to say. She is one of the most competent cadets in her class in terms of communication and shows great potential in her career at Starfleet."

Wash blinked at him with his jaw ajar before shaking his head. River had told him about Spock's denial but he hadn't taken it seriously then. Now he was thinking that Simon was the better person in the whole romance thing although at least Spock was not insulting Uhura like Mal did with Inara. The Vulcan had that going for him at least.

However Wash could tell from a man's point of view not to rush Spock on this. Romance was something that females tend to rush about on. Which is good if two people are obvious in their attraction – like Simon and Kaylee. Somehow, Wash could tell from his gut that Spock has no idea about the attraction. He briefly wondered if Spock even had a first love yet.

"That's good. And I mean about the not talking about male reproductive things and Uhura." Wash winced at that. "And we will not mention about those two subjects in the same sentence. I like to keep my manhood manly and attached."

His last comment was met with a look of confusion from Spock.

"I am afraid I do not understand your statement. Why do the two subjects induce fear?"

Wash stared at Spock, trying to see if the Vulcan was joking about his question. Because there was no way that any man in the entire 'verse could be ignorant about women. Not even Jayne would go against any woman's fury.

Well, except Mal. However that's because the man is too damn stubborn to think properly.

"Spock, you're mom is human, right?"

"That is correct. River informed you earlier that I am half Vulcan and half human."

"Now, I'm sure she's a wonderful woman and all, but haven't you ever heard of the expression hell hath no fury like that of a woman scroned?" Wash asked carefully. He nearly hit his face when he saw how hard the Vulcan was thinking about the question.

"I believe I have heard of the expression. However what does it have in context with my mother?" Spock asked looking intently down at Wash.

"Aiya! By the Heavens and the sea! What did they teach you about life in those schools?! Maybe your mom is a saint, I don't know. But I can tell you that Uhura is a woman to be feared. I know. I am currently married to such a woman."

"Even though she is currently in another universe?"

"Especially since she's in another universe. Women are powerful creatures and they can hurt you in ways that no man can think is possible. Besides, you never ever know when she's going to save your ass and you need to demote yourself to her life-long love slave." Wash stated seriously.

There was a moment of silence as Spock took in what Wash had said. However Wash could tell that his words were not getting to him.

"Know what? Let's just forget about the women talk. Just promise me that you won't tell Uhura what I said about the male bits and her name in the same sentence."

Spock nodded at that and Wash was satisfied that he managed to keep himself from getting his ass kicked. The Vulcan looked at the chronometer before he began to walk towards the door.

"I believe that it is time to meet River at the designated location."

Wash shook his head as he followed Spock out of his apartment. He really needs to get Spock to simplify his words.

Is it really too hard to say 'time to go?'

***

River frowned as she went through the PADD as quickly as possible.

After leaving the doctor's office, she had stopped by her quarters to grab her PADD and began to hack as many systems as she could just to access the Federation census. Names, pictures, and information appeared and disappeared at a rate that was almost impossible for a human to read, but River continued her work without complaint.

If what Q said was true, then she should be able to find some clue to where Book and the other two are. Before, she had no idea that there was a possibility that there was someone out there from her own universe that the thought to look for survivors came to her. However now that she has an idea, nothing was going to stop her from trying to find the Sheppard.

Absently she knew in that back of her mind that she made an unusual sight with her head bent down over a PADD while walking and avoiding everyone and thing around her. Except that what she was currently doing was important. Who knows how long before something happens to Book? While the man can survive with all the skills that he has, River felt that the sooner she finds him, the better it would be for the Sheppard.

Because she knew that in his heart, Sheppard Book did not want to kill again.

She made absolutely no progress when she reached the market store. So far, she had just finished going through about 79% of Earth's population and she was beginning to think that Q had a weird sense of humor in putting humans from another universe into alien planets while leaving the only certifiably insane person with humans.

"I'm beginning to think that Kaylee is right about you not being a person with all that speed reading."

River did not react as she used her leg to pull a hover cart from one of the rows. She balanced the PADD between the two structures of the child safety seat before she pushed the cart with her body while her fingers continue to dance over the touch screen.

"I thought it was the part where I'm a trained assassin that made me not a person."

"Well, my wife is an old war veteran, Jayne is willing to kill for money, Mal is romantically retarded, Kaylee is a mechanic fanatic, Inara is almost as retarded as Mal, Sheppard Book is a preacher who can shoot, your brother is in whole level to himself when dealing with Kaylee or anyone that's not a doctor, and I'm just the pilot. You being an assassin not as scary as all that reading – very dangerous stuff there."

A smile formed on River's face as she heard Wash's answer.

"River, what is it that you are attempting to do?" Spock asked as he followed the two humans.

"I am attempting to locate the other three." River answered before she stopped the cart at the produce section. She paused from her reading as Wash's thoughts on the vast amounts of fresh produce filled her mind.

_How much trouble will I be in for fondling fruit?_

River laughed as she looked at Wash's face. At the corner of her eye, she could see Spock raising an eyebrow at the man's expression. It was a cross between hunger and awe. Which made the blond look like he was high on drugs.

"So, do we order a whole cart load or-?" Wash began to ask.

"Due to the circumstances, patrons who go to these industries tend to buy what they need for a short period of time. Usually the average length of time is around 2.89 weeks for foods that are non perishable and 1.57 weeks for most perishable items. However since we are currently short on time and it is most prudent that we finish this excursion in 63 minutes and 45 seconds in order for us to produce the meal in time." Spock replied as he looked down at a display of oranges.

She almost laughed at the look that Wash gave Spock. The man was thinking that Spock talked way too much for a simple answer.

"Right. " Wash said before he turned to River. "What do we need?"

"Protein substitutes for meat, life forms consisting of vitamins A, B, C, D, and E, and glucose and starch plant forms." River answer while she still stared down at her PADD. "Don't make faces."

Wash rolled his eyes, but stopped making his faces.

Spock only placed his hand over River's for a moment before he pulled away and turned towards Wash.

"I propose that we should separate in order to shorten the time necessary. Wash and I shall gather beverages and the starches necessary for the meal."

She only nodded at that before pushing the cart towards the green leafy vegetables. From there on, she pulled her attention from the PADD and solely concentrated on picking out the best produce. Her eyes studied each pick, making sure that there was no decay and that her selections were too small or too big.

By the time Wash and Spock return with a cart of their own, River managed to fill her cart half way with bok choy, nappa, cabbage, enoki mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, daikon, firm tofu, carrots, broccoli, and garlic.

"River, you need to explain it to Spock that a man needs to try everything out at least once in life." Wash complained as he pushed his cart.

"Purchasing every brand of consumable ethanol is not a need." Spock replied dryly.

"No it's not, but it's fun." Wash retorted.

River gave a nod at that as she poked her finger at some oranges.

"We'll buy all of it when everyone comes back."

That answer got Wash thinking about the others while Spock only raised an eyebrow. Peering down at the vegetables, he noted the selection was satisfactory. His human friend was already finished with her selection of oranges and turned her attention to the apples. The other human appeared to have finished his thought process and went over to look at the fruits.

"Oh! Mangos! Let's get those. Hey, what about these things?" Wash asked as he picked up a round golden brown fruit that looked like an apple but did not fell like one.

"That's a pear."

"Really? I thought pears are funny shaped." The blond commented as he tossed the fruit up in the air before catching it. He tosses the pear once again, but this time a slim hand snatched from him in midair before River placed it into a plastic bag.

"These are good. Spock and I had them replicated once." she said as she picked out a couple more.

"However I believe that since these are fresh, the taste will be substantially satisfactory." Spock added as he peered over at a display of cherries in their pre-made bags. He selected two bags and placed them into the cart with the produce. "River, we should have sufficient amount of food for dinner tonight."

It was then Wash realized something.

"Hey! Who's paying for this?"

Before Spock or River could answer him, a loud bang of a gunshot vibrated in the air. All three automatically ducked behind the carts. River stared in a daze while Wash cursed softly in Chinese and Spock peered over their cover before placing his hand over River's.

"You know, there's no need for violence over a question." Wash grumbled.

"Unfortunately we are not armed in civilian areas. I believe no injuries have occur, however their weaponry is deadly despite the lack of alien interference."

"I can't believe even in a civilized planet like this, something so pathetic as robbing a store goes on." Wash said as he shook his head. "Hell, even Jayne wouldn't bother with it. He'd steal the merchandise."

River nodded at that while Spock looked at him with a questioning look.

"He could sell the stuff off world for a better price and turnover."

While Spock nodded with the logic of the answer, River finally pulled herself back to reality. Taking a look at Wash before taking a look at Spock, her lips formed a small smile.

"I have a plan."

***

" – and then she says to us, 'I have a plan.'" Wash ominously said before pausing long enough to eat another piece of nappa that was cooked in a mixture of sesame oil and soy sauce. He took a moment to savor the taste and made a mental note to River that she should cook more often.

"And then?" a young accented eager voice asked insistently.

Looking over to his right, Wash saw the look on Chekov's face that was a mix of excitement and fear. The poor boy was eating up his story than the plate of food before him. Sulu, who sat on the other side of the Russian also noticed and nudged the boy to remind him to eat. Wash waited long enough for Chekov to take a hurried bite of his dinner before continuing.

"So River tells us her plan and we were both thinking that it was a little crazy."

"It had a 54.65% chance of causing injury to the bystanders." Spock interjected. River scowled at that.

"Better than waiting for the law enforcement." She retorted. Before they could argue, Wash quickly returned back to the story.

"Anyways, the plan was a bit sketchy. It consists of me screaming my head off while she goes into a seizure. Meanwhile, Spock was supposed to be sneaking around the disable the ones that don't go looking into us. A simple but risky rescue."

The table was practically vibrating with Chekov's eagerness and it infected Sulu just a bit. Uhura, however looked only interested. The girl was way too much like his wife. No point in getting excited if she already knew the ending – which was the three of them alive with the groceries for dinner. However Chekov was waiting with a look in his eyes that were similar to Kaylee's and Sulu's expression was a mix of anticipation and enjoyment – much like Book's.

"So I started screaming my head off, telling them 'Oh God! Help me! She's dying!' And she starts to pretend to go into a fit." And Wash proceeded to shows just what River did by rolling his eyes back and starting to shake violently.

"How many actually came?" Sulu asked while trying to hide his amusement. The blond looked like he was doing a really bad dance move.

"Three." River answered. Wash nodded at that as he stopped shaking.

"And they were like 'What the hell?!' and I was like 'Look at her! She's dying! Do something!' The amazing thing was that they started to actually discuss about what to do next."

Uhura snorted at that and shook her head. Wash gave her a grin at that. Just like Zoe thinking about military stuff. He could bet a hundred credits that Uhura was thinking about the idiots for dropping their guard like that.

"That must have been some acting." Sulu teased with a grin. Both River and Wash rolled their eyes at that comment.

"Please, she didn't even do the foamy drool and they were all acting serious about it. That's when we struck!"

Wash grinned as he watched his audience. Even Uhura looked captivated as they waited for the next part of the story. The blond pilot couldn't help the rush of pride that filled his chest. He was finally getting a chance to have his own set of stories like his wife and Mal. Crazy violent stories that he was a part of and managed to live on to tell about. For a moment he wondered how many stories he'll have before his wife comes to him and continued on.

"River had one of her arms out and I grabbed it to swing it around and throw her to the three men. She caught the one in the middle with her feet. And then she did this fast movey thingy." He swung his arms wildly to give some sort of demonstration. "In half a second, she took two of them down."

"What happened to the last guy?" Uhura asked.

"Wash punched him in the kisser." River answered blandly. Wash pouted at that. "And then he kicked the man in the ribs three times."

"Rather excessive." Spock added.

"Hey! Normal human man with little hand to hand skills. Get me a gun and I'll do fine. But facing people with weapons – normal reaction is to hide. Or hit them with something big that can shield you. Besides, I'm the pilot. I don't do confrontations."

"Unless it's with your wife." River said with a smile.

"Especially my wife. But she has the big advantage of taking away sex from me, so those confrontations are short."

That got everyone but Spock laughing. He only raised an eyebrow, but Wash swore that the corners of his mouth lifted just a fraction in an amused smile.

"But what about Spock? What happened with him while you two took down the idiots?" Uhura asked with a slight bit of impatience. Wash sent a look over to River who smirked. Young love, how cute and annoying it is at the baby stages.

"Well, Spock was doing his stealth thing. Apparently there were only five guys doing this whole robbery gig. Which left two to guard the money they were collecting and some of the nicer merchandise. Anyways, taking down two humans was no trouble for Spock. He zoomed behind them and knocked them out. Then he has the gall to come back to tell us that our way of subduing the enemies was over excessive and a waste of energy!"

"That's because you kicked too much." River defended her best friend.

"Any more action in your part would result in breaking the right 5th and 6th costals." Spock added mildly.

"Um, hello?! Them – guns, us – no guns! Besides we were nearly late for dinner." Wash pointed out as he took a sip of his beer. Honestly, geniuses – who could argue with them sensibly?

The other three chuckled at the argument between the two males and one female. Somehow it felt like the newcomer was just an old friend who came back from a long trip. He charmed Uhura with his honest comments and actually looking her in the eye instead of southward, chatted with Sulu about piloting experiences, and listened to Chekov about his theory of wormholes. With Spock, it was like some sort of comedy show in which Wash tries to win one little argument against him but the Vulcan keeps shooting him down with his logic. It did not help that River was mostly on Spock's side.

Dinner went on with Wash doing most of the talking and giving a different version of events that happened on the Federation colony. Sulu and Chekov were impressed at the idea of the gravitational buffer and commented that it was a pity it most likely would not work with a starship. Spock wanted to add in a few comments on human expressions, but River stopped him every time by explaining the meanings through telepathy.

"Where is your wife?"

Uhura's question was sudden and there was a long pause of silence. River looked worriedly over at Wash and Spock's face was changed to one of blankness. Wash on the other hand gave a small smile at the young woman.

"She's on some undercover long term mission with the crew. I couldn't go because I had a break down so they had to leave me behind." He replied while thinking about what River told him about his death. Getting skewered by a gorram spear, not only of his best ideas of dying. At least the Reavers didn't touch his dead body – not that they ever bother with dead bodies.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Uhura said looking slightly ashamed. Wash only waved it off.

"Nah, don't worry your pretty head about it. My wife is going to be fine. She has more common sense than Mal, the captain. Let me tell you about the time when Mal got married drunk in this back water moon…"

Dinner ended with the story of Mrs. Reynolds and dessert consisting of fresh fruit started on the continuing story of the ex-Mrs. Reynolds and how the entire crew managed to trick her into thinking that she got them a second time. Which she almost did – thank god for Inara!

By the time they were about to leave, Wash got them laughing at the hilarity of Jayne and his temporary hero status in Canton. Chekov and Sulu went out first and after much convincing from River, Spock escorted Uhura back to the cadet dorms.

Which left Wash and River to clean up.

"You know, I think I'm going to like it here." Wash commented as he put in the last dish into the sonic washer. "I have to admit, I was kinda worried about hanging with you young people, but it's not too bad."

River smiled at him and leaned against his side.

"I'm glad." She replied before she went over to the counter where she left the PADD and began on working. Wash watched her a bit before he began to explore his new home in more detail.

He fiddled with the bits of technology that he knew were safe and was reluctant to mess with replicator despite the urge to program 'wife soup' into the menu. Instead, he turned on the newsfeed and amused himself with watching the latest news on Starfleet and their victory in gaining an alliance of a planet with blue people.

"And we now gain blue people. What's next? Pink people?" Wash mused and he was about to change the channel when something caught his eye.

Correction – someone caught his eye.

"River!" He yelled as the girl flew from her seat in the dining room and landed on the sofa next to him. Her eyes were wide in shock as well as Wash's.

"Son of a bitch." She breathed out and he could not agree with her more.

Just to the side of the blue people wearing a set of clothes similar to that of a preacher was Derrial Book.

* * *

Sorry everyone for the long, long, long gap in updates.

My excuses include the following: exams, work, writer's block, glued to watching Castle, Trinity, YNSH, Down with Love (tv series), Torchwood, The Mortal Instrument (Molly Quinn should totally be Clary for the movie!), and re-watching Firefly and comparing it to some of the lines in Castle (Latest episode has Nathan quoting the exact same line as Jayne in Train Job.)

I wanted to write a little bit more, but I figure capping this chapter and starting a new one will help me out in the process. Book wasn't supposed to be discovered yet, but this just popped out at the last minute. I promise that the next chapter will have a Kirk and River scene that many of you are hoping for – nothing romantic but I can say plenty of fuzzies!

Outtakes

* * *

As they began to clear the table, Wash noticed that River was avoiding his eyes. Which was odd in a way since there was nothing to be avoiding about between the two of them. If anything, Wash should have the excuse of the eye avoiding thing. The girl can read minds and he was pretty sure that he had a few naughty thoughts about his wife at the front of his mind.

"River?" he asked with concern.

The girl looked liked she was having a debate about something important enough for her to stop her part of the job. Finally, she looked like she made a decision and faced him.

"I slept with Zoe."

Wash was pretty sure he couldn't feel his extremities for a moment as he processed the words into his brain. In fact his whole body was feeling wobbly and he barely made it to a chair as his knees gave way. Was his brain supposed to be spinning in circles?

Ever since he discovered about his death and his new life, Wash worried about how his wife was coping without him. Sure, Zoe was a strong woman with a taste of badass rifles and a killer aim. However there were only a few times that she had show the crew the gentle side of her. The side of her that make men want to protect her and do all sorts of comforting that include sex.

His greatest fear was that she would turn to Mal. Jayne was a no-no from the get go; but Mal was her captain and everyone's rock in a crisis.

However, he was pretty sure that Zoe was a man only kind of woman.

And unfortunately, it was sort of easy to imagine Zoe with River – especially with the way River was looking now. He could imagine Zoe's full lips dominating a kiss against River. Their skin a sexy contrast of golden brown next to the pale skin, their hair curly and wavy mixed together on a pillow with their heads close, and their time together would be desperate and passionate were images that blew his brain.

River watched as Wash knocked himself out with the table before she continue on clearing the table. She shook her head at the thoughts that Wash was thinking and sighed once again.

"He needs to understand the context of the sentence before jumping into conclusions. Silly boob."

* * *

Sorry, but I wanted to have a scene with River confessing to Wash that she had slept with Zoe.

Anyway, I'll try to get the next chapter started and as soon as I reveal the other person who was sent by Q, I'll put up another chapter of Mirror Mirror of the Dimensional Wall up.

Read and Review! Send the love!


	20. Chapter 16: A Meeting of Minds and Place

Disclaimer: Not mine and never was – both of them.

Attention! If anyone wants to know about the progress of the chapters – read my profile!

Also, look for the outtake!

A Reader in the Stars

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Chapter Sixteen: A Meeting of Minds and Places

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River walked through the cool night as she thought about what had just transpired a couple of hours ago.

Both she and Wash discover a possible location of Derrial Book on the newsfeed. River did not know if she was peeved that she hadn't found time to hack into newfeeds or that Wash was the first to find him unintentionally. Either way, their main concern now was how to reach the man.

After hacking away into Starfleet and comparing the data with the newsfeed, the two of them managed to get all of the information that they needed.

Approximately three months ago, the USS Franklin discovered the planet Lanren. Both Wash and River were amused that the planet's name sounded much like the description of the population in Chinese. From the initial reports of the planet, it was an M class planet, however the levels of oxygen were about 5% higher compared to Earth which caused the landing party having slight symptoms of giddiness and increasing their cardiac output. Also from the starship's scans, the planet consisted of 50% land and 50% water.

They admired the holos of the planet. The land was made up of forests, lakes, and mountains. They reminded River of the China landscapes that she had seen in one of the old historical movies. There was a mysterious charm to the holos with the mountains covered sparsely with trees and the low altitude clouds that appear smoky and dense.

However what they were interested in came mostly from Starfleet's reports. When the blue people found the search party, they were taken to a city that was in the middle of technological advancement for new farming equipment. Although the technology appeared to be primitive, their power source is one of great interest.

While there were no power plants for electricity or gas, there was a mining camp where the power source originated. The ore that made up the city's power was something unique to the planet's core and there was no radiation which made it safe to handle. There were notes on making it an alternative source to dilitium, however further testing needs to be done.

Wash and River read and listen to all the reports and were rewarded when they came across the report from the landing party when the population's government interviewed them with one other. A man who appeared to be African-American in his late fifties or early sixties accompanied the blue men and managed to roughly translate between the two races. Which was a huge step compared to other initial meetings with new planet populations with the Federation.

When asked about his origins, the man who introduced himself as Derrial Book only answered that he was a traveler learning and teaching the word of God and he had worked hard in his four month stay to join the community and learn about the people of Lanren.

"Do you think that he'll want to come to Earth?" Wash had asked with worry. River remembered how Book had parted with the rest of Serenity. It had been a tense affair between him and the Captain.

"He will. At least to get a decent Bible." She had replied as memories of his old bible rush past her mind. It was definitely going to be a peace offering between her and the preacher.

After that, River discovered the plans for more starships traveling with scientists eager to figure out the ore and some arrangements with diplomats. Wash had been studying the star charts and the blueprints of possible ships that he would be piloting while River got his name up as one of the staff heading to Lanren. She was tempted to add her name on the list, but held off on it.

There was a chance that she would be asked and it would be better excuse against her doctor once he hears about it.

McCoy had already put down on her file that he needed to be consulted before any off world missions. Silly man to think that she wouldn't monitor her own file.

"Better than what Simon would do." She said to herself as she continues to walk towards Starfleet campus.

They had ended the night at around one in the morning with Wash yawning tiredly and rubbing his eyes from the strain of staring into a screen. River hugged him and assured him easily enough that she was fine to walk back home. Wash did not doubt her on that part.

"Meet me in the morning?" He had asked with a huge yawn.

"With breakfast." She had promised back.

"Good. Get something with eggs. I haven't had real eggs in years."

As she walked, River thought about what she would bring over in the morning. Meats were a must to bring in as well as fresh fruits. Also hot cakes were important with maple syrup and waffles but no toast. The young woman shivered at the idea of toast. It reminded her of the time when all they had to eat was crappy flat carbohydrate and protein crackers. And grits, no grits. She nearly vomited at the thought of grits.

Her legs took their time to walk to the campus and her mind was still lost in the thoughts of breakfast. However slowly and surely other thoughts were creeping into her mind. A pout formed her lips as she allowed the external thoughts through. Her metal barrier was at the best she could build which made it easier to be around people, however for some reason there were times where the thoughts would breeze right through them.

In these new thoughts she could see the stars and feelings of loneliness. Images of a ship, a man, and words from a report wrapped her senses in memories. Her mind felt like it was pulling itself away from her body as she moved towards the direction of the thoughts. She had no fear about whose thoughts they belong to.

She walked to the other side of campus where the astronomy conservatory was located. Her footsteps echoed down the empty halls with the dim lights of the building casting shadows around her. The architecture was a mixture of high arcs and ceilings similar to that of Vulcan and the simple smooth lines of 21st century modern style. As fascinating as the building was, River was heading towards the one place which made the conservatory one of the many wonders of Earth – the Archer's Sky Dome.

The Archer's Sky Dome was created and named after the first President of the Federation who still holds a position in Starfleet as Admiral after he retired as president. She had met the man once who looked rather good for a man that was over a hundred and forty. Depending on how well his knees were, the admiral was usually seen walking with a cane or in a wheelchair with his dog, Porthos the Fifth, accompanying by his side. River loved the dog but felt slightly disturbed with Archer's feelings for the canine. She had witnessed an old memory about Porthos the First and wondered if maybe the dog was one of the reasons why the man's marriages ended in divorce.

Either way, do not mess with the dog. The man was fierce when it came down to the dog.

River wondered if she had ever eaten dog back home on Serenity. She hoped not – if it was tasty, she might be tempted to try it again.

Entering the dome, she paused for a moment to admire it.

Her old life in the core planets had flourished with technology, however she knew that no core planet had something this beautiful and elegant in any of its higher education facilities or government research industries.

The dome followed an old design that was similar to the 21st century designs in astronomy conservatories, however the panels of the dome did not show some two dimensional rendering of a starry night. They were made out of an alien crystal and they were careful placed side by side that it was impossible to see the minuscule lines that separated each one. Although it currently was not seen in its glossy translucent white base.

The tech behind the crystals was it showed space as one would see it in an observation deck of a starship. The footage was taken from all of Starfleet's starship's records which made it possible for the cadets who have yet to see the Black to see different systems as they would when they finally graduate.

Brown eyes darted above to see a section of space that looked almost like she was staring out of an observation deck of a starship. The Black in its ever changing glory, a planet that was slowly rotating and a sun close enough to change its surrounding into an orange hue was like magic to her. Turning her head towards the sun, she vaguely remembered a time where she was out in space with only a suit to protect her from the icy death of space.

A sad smile graced her lips as she walked down the stairs of the dome towards the only other person in the room. She loved the open space of the Black but it had terrified Simon. In that space of time where they had to hide in plain sight from the Alliance, all her brother could think about was the consequences of faulty equipment. Simon loved stability more than excitement.

Walking silently, River knew that she was undetected and she suppressed the urge to giggle as she pulled her hair to one side. As she got closer, the thoughts grew stronger and her reality began to blur. Sounds and voices grew louder in volume and she could feel the air turn warm and then cold.

_A child's laughing shriek and the light pounding of feet against dry dirt was coming close behind her. The sun's rays touched her skin and the wind cooled her face as she looked up to see the blue sky. Opening her eyes, the sight of two young boys chasing each other brought a pang to her heart. _

_Walking towards them, she vaguely realized that her feet were bare as the feel of the hard ground felt itchy and the swish of her skirt brought her attention that she was not wearing her present clothing. In fact it looked like one of her old dresses that Kaylee bought and doctored. _

"_Wait for me, Sammy!"_

"_Too slow Jimmy!"_

_Looking towards the two boys playing, River felt that she should know one of them. They were fair haired and similar looking – possibly brothers. There was an obvious difference in ages from the height between the two. Probably about three to four years in age difference. Both of them looked happy and carefree for the moment. _

"_My boys." _

_Turning around, she saw a man in what looked to be a version of a Starfleet uniform, but not one that she was familiar with. After a minute of study, River decided that the man was handsome with his board muscle body and serious blue eyes. His dirty blond hair was styled neatly like her brother's and his rich voice made her melt just a bit. It had a soothing quality like Book's did. _

_Nodding to both herself and the man next to her, she turn back to watch the boys again. However her heart drop as she noticed that the sky was no longer blue but black with stars. The children's laughter was fading away and she found that she was not standing on the ground but suspended in space. She shivered at the drop in temperature as she tried to figure out where she was. However that changed as a blur of white blocked her view of space._

_She tried to search for the stars, but whiteness took over and all she could hear was the sound of air blowing fiercely around her. The only constant was the man who still looked in the same direction that the boys once played. _

"_It's not over."_

_Looking at the man, River wanted to ask what he meant but stayed silent. _

"_It's not over."_

_A scream nearly tore from her throat as she watched his body began to burn from nonexistent fire. His body burn red orange before it turn black and began to crumble into ash. However his blue eyes remain on hers, alive and warning her. _

"_It's not over."_

_As his ashes disappeared by the white, a bit of color remained where he once stood. She walked over and stopped just a foot away from it. Bending down only half way from the waist, she saw that it was a small dot of red. It reminded her of a drop of paint since it looked too artificial to be blood. As time pass, her eyes were locked on that bit of red. _

_Broken._

_Fury._

_Madness._

_Waiting._

"_An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth." She muttered quietly to herself. Reaching out with one hand, she attempted to touch the small dot._

"Commander?"

River opened her eyes that she had closed to see that she was staring down at the upturned face of James Tiberius Kirk. She was standing one row behind him and he was sitting in his seat with his head leaning over the edge of the seat.

"I'm back." She replied softly. Her heart lightened as a slow smile spread on the man's face and she wondered what this man's father was warning about. And did it have to do with the young man before her?

"You missed the exams."

Leaning back until she sat heavily on the seat behind him, she looked up at the scene and sighed.

"I'm glad. I didn't have to grade them."

A low chuckle drifted into the air and she smiled as she read his memories about exam week. Reaching out with one hand, she carded his hair very much like a cat. They stayed like that for a few minutes; taking comfort from each other and the stars.

"Thank you." Jim finally said. River knew what he was thanking her for. "You know, I'm a good listener."

"I know."

"Bones told me that you had amnesia."

River smiled in amusement as she read the memory of her doctor telling Jim off. A glow of pride filled her as she saw how the doctor was getting over his grieves and was taking slow steps to his future. She had been slightly worried that McCoy would dwell on the past but it looks like having a new purpose was doing him some good. She made a mental note to study his custody case to find a loop hole.

"Don't you ever think about it?" Kirk asked when she did not reply to his previous statement.

"All the time." She answered truthfully. While she was stuck in that gorram place of a lab, she often thought about her parents coming for her when she suffered the experiments. However as each day passed she had lost hope that anyone would come for her. If she had to be honest with herself, she never did believe that Simon would come for her himself despite what her feelings said when she wrote letter after coded letter out.

"What do you think your family was like?"

Thoughts of her parents drifted through and she found that she really could not tell if what she remembered was real or if it was mixed with every other thought she had read during her lunacy period. She felt sad that her father trusted the Alliance more than he trusted his own son and that her mother allowed what happened to both her children to come to pass. It made her feel detached from them. A part of her wanted a chance to scream at them for not believing in Simon or for not being more careful or for not acting more like a concern parent when she hadn't visited during the time she was in the hell.

"I like to think they were good people. A bit naïve but good people." She said and she felt Kirk reaching out to grasp the hand that was brushing his hair and giving it a squeeze.

"And good looking too. And smart. They'd be proud of you." Kirk commented softly as his thumb stroked her hand in a comforting gesture.

A small smile graced her lips but it was bitter and she was glad that Kirk's eyes were still staring up at the dome. How proud would her parents be if they learned what their children had to do in order to survive? They were supposed from a good family and their future should have been one where both of them would be wealthy and famous. Simon should have been one of the youngest doctors and he could have made profound progress in the medical field. Instead he was forced to give up everything and live a life as a fugitive. His medical practice now surrounded in patching up bullet holes and laser burns.

River swore that as soon as Simon returns to her, she was going to use every gorram connection she has to put Simon in the best of schools for xenobiology or if he wanted, get him a job in one of the best hospitals on Earth. Her brother deserved that and more for everything he had to suffer for and nothing was going to stop that.

There was a tug on her clasped hand and she looked over to Kirk who had turned from his seat to study her. She could read the concern on his face and his thoughts. Squeezing his hand, she pulled it away and looked at the stars.

"He died over there." River stated as she pointed to one section of the dome. The man looked over and gave a nod.

"They said that they never found the ship that attacked them. It just disappeared in a storm of lightening and twenty-two years later, they still haven't found it."

An image of something dark with multiple appendages that curled around a center and its shape was alien and beyond anything River had ever seen flickered through her mind but she shook it off. Today, she was not going to think about the odd thoughts and things that made no sense to her now. She could worry about it when she gets Serenity up and Book back.

For now, she would stay with Kirk until he falls asleep from exhaustion and from the alcohol that he had consumed earlier in the evening. She could than help him up his feet and drag him to the hospital where McCoy was there, picking up an extra shift. McCoy would yell at her, telling her to stop bringing in drunk idiots, and watching out for signs of alcohol poisoning in his friend. River would only ignore him and hack into the hospital system to add the doctor to be primary physician for one Hoeban Washburn.

The future for now could wait.

XXX

Wash sat nervously on what River had called a biobed.

It had been only a few days before River entered his apartment and dragged him out to Starfleet's hospital for a checkup with the Dr. McCoy. Normally he would be kicking and screaming at the treatment of getting his ass kicked out of bed and nearly being dragged out in his boxers; however when the person is a trained psychic assassin, it's better to do what they say.

However if he knew that the doctor was going to start on a manly hissy fit with River mostly ignoring said man, Wash would have taken the chance of trying to go against her.

At first glance, Dr. McCoy looked like a decent man. Tall, dark, and if Wash had to be honest, a nice looking man; the kind that looked like a soft Core planet gentleman. In fact, he half sort of expected the man to act like Simon when the boy gets into his doctor mode.

Somehow that all changed when the man took a look at him and then at River.

"Dammit! What did you do this time?" the doctor yelled.

Wash was about to deny anything that came to his mind when he finally understood that the man was yelling at River and not at him.

"He needs a physical."

"You didn't get him drunk did you?"

Now there was a look of annoyance on her face.

"That was only two times. Kirk was already drunk when I found him."

The doctor rolled his eyes and muttered something about recklessness and idiots comes in pairs. Then he turned towards Wash in a scowling manner.

"I don't know if I should be glad or worried that girls these days are the ones that deal with their drunken boyfriends."

"Scotty is my engineer, not my boyfriend."

The man must have thought something as because River gave him an eye roll but did not comment on the thought.

"Umm."

They turned to Wash who cursed his mouth for doing before letting his brain think.

"I could come back at a later time?" he said, ending his comment as a question. He hunched in his position as both the doctor and River glared at him.

"I'll be damn if I let my patient leave before an appointment."

"You need this, Wash."

Privately Wash thought he needed a nicer doctor and a better friend which was not a good thought to have with a mind reader. Especially with her pouting and muttering under her breath. Wash hoped that she was not muttering death threats at him. However the doctor turned on her and Wash felt a sense of relief that River's attention was on the man.

"What do you mean he needs this? Don't tell me he's got some sort of alien STD that no one has heard of." McCoy snapped as he began to program his tricorder. Wash felt insulted by that.

"Now wait a tic – " he protested but River interrupted.

"He's clean. Might have some nutrient deficiencies but he's taking care of that."

"Hmph! Levels of iron are lower than what I expected and so are his calcium levels. However he is in good shape for his age group." McCoy said before he turned to Wash. "So, you joining in with the young folks in this travesty of a job? Hope you can handle the hand-to-hand combat?"

Wash looked up in surprise and dismay.

"Wait, combat classes?" he exclaimed before turning towards River. "You never said about classes!"

She only gave a shrug at that.

"You should take them."

"I'm a pilot. That means little to no combat."

The look she gave him made Wash feel a little foolish. There was no doubt that she was thinking about the time on Nishka's space station. With him taking charge with his wife and all strapped up in guns. Which was totally different and he meant in the whole safety in numbers difference! His wife equals to that of a hundred men.

And she shoots like it too.

"If I, the damn doctor, have to take that poor excuse of physical education courses, then you, the damn pilot, have to take them." The doctor snarled down at him before he turned to River. "Hack into the system and get this man into the beginner's class. If I have to suffer, he has to suffer."

"Now wait a – "Wash protested but River had already whipped out a PADD and began to tap at it furiously.

"Make sure to test him for allergies. His last doctor had limited resources so he's used to the more basic medication. The more exotic vaccinations may cause some reaction." She said, ignoring the patient.

"Can't be worse than that infant. Alright, you," McCoy commanded to Wash, "Stick out your arm and curl your hand in a fist. I'm going to be drawing up some blood."

The blond finally had enough of it. These two people were planning out his life and he had no say in it. Well there will be some gorram say for him!

"Excuse me! This is me we're talking about or that you two are talking about! It's my body that's up for discussin' and I think I can say that I'm pretty darn fine. In both senses." Wash cried out as he started to get his guns into it before he wilted at the sight of River shaking her head sadly while McCoy turned on him with a furious look of rage.

Wash could have sworn that the room temperature rocketed from comfortable to 'Oh God I'm going to die' raging burn. In fact he felt smaller as the doctor took three steps forward before looking down at him.

"Listen little man," McCoy's accent grew thick and menacing in such a way that Mal nor Jayne could ever match, "you are in my presence. You know that means? It means that I am your god and you are the little peon that will do what I say. Why? Because I have the damn Ph D which means that I can open you up, mess around, and put your sorry carbon base life together. Now, unless you got a degree that ain't in your file, I suggest that you stuff any ideas of self medical evaluations and leave the professionals with their jobs. Got it?"

The pilot had never in his life shook his head so fast before now.

"Good, now put up your right hand out and make a fist so I can draw out your blood. We need it to look into any genetic diseases."

Thankfully the rest of the physical went smoothly with the good doctor testing his reflexes and making remarks about which types of vaccinations he should have. Wash winced when the doctor pressed what was called a hypospray against his neck which caused a sensation that was a mix between a hard pinch and a rug burn. Also the feeling of whatever drug that was going through his blood stream did not help with its cool temperature compared to his body temperature.

"We'll have to set up a few more appointments before you're through with your vaccinations. Too much will have too many side effects and it'll put a strain on your body. I'll put in a note not have your off world just yet until a month or so. We'll also have your blood work done by your next appointment so we can discuss if you have any anomalies." Doctor McCoy finally said as he input a few more notes in his PADD.

"Uh, what about leaving the city? My job starts in a few days and I'm doing some transporting jobs." Wash asked meekly.

"Those won't be a problem. The vaccinations that I gave you are for the more basic ones here on Earth. Once you finished all of your vaccinations, you'll be good for off-world jobs. However I do suggest no sexual activity for right now. Especially with the nonhuman types. There's plenty fluids between alien and human which can cause plenty of allergic reactions to both parties."

Wash laughed and felt himself a bit flustered at the idea of having sex with anyone other than Zoe.

"Trust me, doc. I'm not going to be sticking my toe in any pool for a long while. My wife will kill me!"

"You married?"

"Yes sir! It's been four years since we met!" Wash answered proudly. Looking over at River, he saw that the girl was watching them carefully but her expression gave no indication for her reason.

"Ah, got any kids?" McCoy asked blandly. Wash only shook his head at that.

"Nah. It's one of things that we've been arguing about for the past year or so. I mean, we both want kids but it's the timing."

"Timing? Money problems?"

"I wish!" Wash replied with a harsh snort. "No. If it were money it wouldn't stop us. We lived on a ship with no nest on a solid piece of land to come back to. I just don't think it's right for a family to be brought up that way. At least I didn't before."

McCoy looked up from his PADD and turned his full attention to him.

"There's nothing wrong with your first assessment. Raising a family on a deathtrap isn't the way to go."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't have any regrets like now. You got any kids?"

There was a long silence before McCoy gave a nod.

"One baby girl. Haven't seen her since the divorce." He replied bitterly. Wash only looked at him in the eye and said nothing about apologies which in an odd way made McCoy glad.

"Do you regret having her?"

"NO!" The doctor snarled fiercely. His reply was greeted with a sad smile from Wash and a knowing look from River.

"See? You saw something that I haven't yet. I want to see my kid with my Zoe's eyes and curls. But I let something like a ship get in the way of it. I shouldn't have and I got to wait until my wife gets back to get that chance again."

All three of them said nothing as McCoy finished off his notes. Wash finally got off of the bio bed when River dropped her news.

"I'm going on a road trip with a couple friends. We'll be going down to Georgia before Christmas. Do you want me to deliver something to Joanna?"

Wash held his breath as he waited for the other man's reply. If it were him, he would have said yes without a second hesitation. However he did not know much about the doctor to predict his answer. Once he looked up to watch the doctor speak, River interrupted.

"We'll be leaving in two days."

Her reply brought the doctor back to life.

"Dammit, girl! Didn't I tell you to give a man a chance to speak?"

"You think too loud and you reply too slow. She'll want something shiny and pretty. Come on Wash."

He looked at the agitated doctor one last time before he followed River. The look on the man's face was a mixture of resentment and hope. Wash did not know what to think on the matter but gave a nod before leaving the office.

The blond wondered for a moment if River's words were cruel to the man. The look on the doctor reminded Wash of Mal's reaction to Jayne's callous words about the battle of Serenity.

"Don't worry. He's healing."

Looking over at River, he only nodded for a moment. But his thoughts continue on to the man they left behind.

XXX

Sulu looked at the woman next to him driving their rented vehicle and singing along with Chekov. Her singing was defiantly better than Chekov's who was struggling with the lyrics. Sulu himself simply hummed to the tune and admire the glow of the sun against her profile.

God, Commander River Tam was definitely beautiful with her laughing eyes, merry smile, and her hair being blown by the wind. No one could deny that fact.

Well, except for Spock, Sulu amended. The Vulcan would probably think that she was highly pleasing and highly intelligent and would find it highly inappropriate for any cadet to try their hand in attempting a relationship with her. Then he'll set Chekov with the usual harassment.

He chuckled as he thought about what Chekov would do with his magic fingers in programming.

"How's your ship coming along?" he asked as the song finally ended. His heart lightened at the wide grin on her face.

"Progress has been made. We got the funds to start. I found a company that does hull plating and they're willing to work with my design. My engineer is going to help out once break is over with the warp system. In about four months, I'm hoping that we'll begin assembling the ship!"

Both he and Chekov looked at her in surprise.

"But it took nearly a year for the Enterprise to even begin with assembling!" Chekov cried out.

"And they're still working on it." Sulu mused as he eyed the woman next to him.

"That's because my ship is smaller and an easier design." She replied absently. "The design itself was made so repair work would be easy to do and done in shorter time. Also, it's not going to need most of the systems that the Enterprise requires of a starship. You both saw the design."

The Japanese pilot recalled the plans and had to admit that what she said makes sense. Damn, if the progress was going as fast as it has so far, her ship would be done before the Enterprise. Briefly he wondered who she was planning to fly the ship. He knew it wasn't going to be either him or Chekov – both of them had signed up for the Enterprise as their first choice. Besides they wouldn't be able to join until they graduate which would be longer than her ship being finished.

Pulling his thoughts away from the future, Sulu looked around to see the scene. For the past week, the three of them have been having the time of their lives with their road trip. He knew that it was a rather old idea, but it was also exciting in an odd way. Hardly anyone ever does stuff like this anymore and it made Sulu appreciate the planet he was born on just a bit more.

"So what kind of food are you introducing this time, Commander?" Chekov asked eagerly as he leaned forward between her and Sulu. Sulu had to smile at the youngster's enthusiasm. So far in their trips, they had been taking holovids of all the tourist attractions and the places they ate. They even had someone else record all three of them dancing during one of the many nighttime music bands that played on the streets of Louisiana.

That had been fun with Chekov attempting to do Russian folk dance and he had done some free-style hip hop. River, of course, had been the best with her dancing something that looked like jazz and ballet.

"Soul food."

Sulu rolled his eyes at that.

"Commander, soul food is similar to the food that they serve back at Starfleet." He teased with a smile. She glared at him for his cheeky answer.

"Wrong. They don't serve real sweet potatoes and their pies suck. Too much of that sugar substitute."

"That's because the chemical formula for sugar causes apoplectic shock to some of the members of Starfleet." Chekov stated seriously.

"And the doctors don't want fructose in any of our systems." Sulu added as he remembered his last physical. The guy before him had been overweight and Sulu heard him muttering about how he had to cut his intake in sugar.

"Stupid." Commander Tam grumbled and both he and Chekov nodded in agreement.

The weather was warm despite the fact that it was December; however they still wore sweaters and jeans. After all, sometimes Mother Nature likes to screw around. As they drove into Georgia, Sulu noticed that the scenery looked old despite the technological advances that were done in the past two centuries. The architecture was different compare to San Fran and he was amazed by the fact that only the big cities were modernized while the towns were modernized with only the necessities such as medical clinics and utilities.

"Not every city is like San Fran, Sulu. Most countries on Earth have been doing their best to preserve as much of the past as possible every since the First Contact. It's also one of the reasons why the Prime Directive was enforced in Starfleet."

He looked over at Commander Tam in confusion for a moment. Sometimes Sulu wondered if his friend was reading his mind, but from the way Chekov was snickering it was more likely he was staring at everything like a city boy.

"It is the same back home in Russia. Most of the advance technology is used for academic purposes. There was really no need in the country for even half the stuff that the Academy has." The Russian teen commented.

"People are too dependent on the technology that we have today. It's a problem but so far there isn't any real incentive to do anything about it." Sulu replied with a shrug.

"But it is a problem in the Black."

That was the odd thing about Commander Tam. She always called space the Black and there was always a bit of reverence in her tone whenever she said it. It wasn't quite like worship but it was more than respect.

"True, but that's why it takes years for a new starship to start out its maiden voyage. All the extensive testing usually prevents most of the problems."

"Still, Commander Tam is right about it being a problem. We would have limited resources on a voyage." Chekov pointed out with a frown. Sulu gave his nose a flick and chuckled at the outraged expression on the teen's face.

"Which is why we, the crew, are trained before we even get on a ship. Honestly Pavel, in the next three years or so we'll be finish with survival classes that'll help us prepare for any situation." He replied calmly. Then he turned to Commander Tam, willing for her to back him up.

She did not disappoint.

"Things happen in three years. Each problem you face will be an opportunity for you to grow. Every time you survive the training, it's another step to handling the real deal. And you'll both survive." She said before turning to smile at them both. "I know you will."

Sulu relaxed as he saw Chekov taking courage with her words. He knew how much the Russian teen worried about graduating with those who were older than him and being physically handicapped compared to the others. The boy was still growing and getting used to his own body.

"What about you, commander? Did you have problems when you were on a starship?" Chekov asked curiously.

Her response interested Sulu as he saw how her knuckles turned white for a brief moment and her eyes narrowed just a bit before her lips presented a sad smile. It hit him right then that his year of friendship with her, he never really asked about her life before Starfleet or if she was on any voyages. They had always talked about his classes, their interests, sparring, and about their mutual friends but never about her experiences.

"When I was little, I had always wanted to be on a ship. My very first experience was on one was a mid-bulk transport ship that was kept up in old parts that needed replacing months ago. Every time the ship hit atmo, we always worried that we'll land exploding or we be dead in the water because something broke down in the engine. One time the compressor caused an explosion in the engine room while we were having a birthday party and we were dead in the water. The explosion even knocked out the auxiliary power. We were freezing before the captain made us take the shuttles to get help."

She kept on talking about her life on this ship. How one time she got to put on a suit and stayed outside of the ship to look at the stars. Or the time where she played tag all over the ship from the cargo bay to the kitchen without anyone stopping her. Then she discussed how her favorite napping spot was the silk bed in one of the passenger's cabin with its spicy scent of incense. She even talked about a time when she snuck on board of another ship and hacked into the comm systems to play a trick of pretending to be the soul of the ship.

He watched her talking and she looked more animated than Sulu had ever seen her before. It was like she was opening up another side of her that he had never seen before and for some reason she was able to share it with both him and Chekov. A part of him felt just a bit petty that it took so long for her to share this however the feeling that they were connecting very much what Sulu suspected between her and Spock was overwhelming.

"We're here."

Looking up from his thoughts, he saw that they were in a good part of some country like neighborhood. There was a good deal of land and he could not see where the next house was. The house that stood behind the picket fence was about two stories with an attic. It even had a porch with a porch swing with cushions!

"This looks – what is the word? Oh! This looks posh!" Chekov commented as he looked at the house before them. "Are we staying in this house?"

"No. Just dropping off a shiny present for a special girl. Just wait." Commander Tam replied as she got out of the car with a package wrapped in old fashion paper. The two males watched her walk up the stone path and up the stairs of the porch to ring the doorbell.

"Do you think this maybe a girlfriend?" Chekov asked. Sulu smiled at his thinking of Commander Tam having a girlfriend.

"I don't think so. She would have told us if she had one. Commander Tam isn't one to hide a relationship."

"Yes. You are right. She is not like Commander Spock or Cadet Uhura. They are stupid." The Russian teen agreed. His statement made Sulu laugh.

"It's like one of those old fashion shoujo mangas that my grandmother talks about. Where the guy and the girl take forever to get into a relationship."

"Shoujo? Manga? What are those terms?"

As Sulu explain about old fashion Japanese literature, both he and Chekov watched as a woman in her mid-twenties open the door. She was a pretty brunette with a nice body and dressed in civilian clothing that Sulu would describe as pretty. However if he were to compare her to the women of his company (such as Uhura and Commander Tam), the woman did not make that much of an impact with him.

"She looks angry." His friend murmured as the woman looked confused for a moment before she scowled down at their friend. A few moments she looked like she was about to argue but it appeared that Commander Tam had cut her off.

"No – it looks like she's about to cry." Sulu corrected with a frown.

And he was correct. The woman's expression was a mixture of fear and sorrow as Commander Tam shoved the package insistently at her. It took a few more shoves before the woman bowed her head and took the package. It appeared that nothing else was said as Commander Tam walked away and returned to her seat of the car.

All three of them were silent as they drove away from the house. Looking back, Sulu could still see the woman standing at the open doorway, clutching the package to her chest.

"Are you - ?" he began to ask.

"I promise to send a Christmas gift." She answered and then her eyes looked into the rearview mirror. "He's not dead, Chekov. It's just going to be a bittersweet Christmas for him this year. Next year will be better."

From the way Chekov sighed, Sulu guessed the boy felt relieved that Commander Tam did not stop by to give out the bad news of a lost love one. It was something that Sulu hoped that he would never do once he graduates from Starfleet.

"But it is inevitable. One day someone we work with will die for duty and someone needs to tell the rest of their family what happened. Like that poor family."

Neither he nor Chekov asked about which family. They understood immediately which family she was talking about.

"Even though it is inevitable, I hope it will take a long time before that happens." Chekov said softly.

"Sometimes, Chekov, a long time is never long enough." Commander Tam warned him gently.

Sulu stayed quiet as he watched the trees and the white fence pass by. He wondered by the warning that his friend gave to their younger companion, just who had died and who did she had to face in giving the news. Or if she had been on the receiving end of it all.

Sometimes it seems that every little secret that he learns about her just only proves how much there is more to uncover. He had no idea how he felt about it. The more rational conclusion would to be frustrated at the lack of progress, but Sulu couldn't hold that. It was odd, but he liked how their relationship was going so far.

Maybe being friends with Commander River Tam was going to be a lifelong process.

And Sulu felt that it was going to be one of the best things in his life.

XXX

Although her visit to the old McCoy house bought down a load of bitter memories between her doctor and his ex-wife, River was glad to be in Georgia.

Upon leaving the package, she had taken her friends to Miss Mabel's home where the elderly woman welcome them with open arms and a nice hot lunch consisting of rice and beans, fried chicken, greens, biscuits, a potato casserole, and a peach pie. Sulu and Chekov praised the woman with her cooking and her generosity which was return in with crackling laughter and promising the boys a load of chores for them to do. Sulu teased the woman that she should have hoped for them during the summer when she could admire them properly.

Poor Chekov was blushing the entire time as Miss Mabel dramatically wooed the loss.

"I know a few granddaughters whom would like a couple of fine gentlemen such as yourselves." Was all she could laminate before River shooed her to her living room to clean the dishes.

Miss Mabel entertained them all with the news that happened in the past year. In turn, the three members of Starfleet gave her stories that happened. Sulu and Chekov narrated the story of River rescuing the people of the Federation colony near Starbase 72. River only smile as Chekov did his best to make the whole thing exciting while Sulu calmly pull the boy back to the story whenever he got out of hand. The elderly woman was amazed at their story and several times told the boys to stop pulling her leg.

"I can't be that a slip of thing such as you did all of that! My! The world hasn't really changed." Miss Mabel said as she shook her head. Chekov was puzzled at her comment.

"I do not understand. What do you mean about the world not changing?"

"She means that prejudice has not change." River answered and Miss Mabel nodded her head in agreement. "It survives throughout history time and time again. Not everyone likes different and when they face it, they want to crush it."

"The child is right. Races all over the world suffer it. Here in the United States, just about every single race has suffered for it. The most well known are the African Americans and then the Native Americans. Those are the ones that just about everyone knows about, but people fail to know that other minorities suffer it as well. Now after the First Contact, humans are brought together to look down on nonhumans."

The four discuss about society after the First Contact and the boys discover that a civilian senior citizen had an interesting point of view of things compare to that of their instructors. However it was late in the afternoon and just about everyone was feeling a little sleepy from the long trip. Miss Mabel showed them to their rooms where Sulu and Chekov immediately feel into a light nap.

River however followed Miss Mabel to the porch and they both sat on the porch swing, allowing the cool air to nip them awake. The younger woman gently pushed against the floor to move the swing in an easy rhythm and the sigh of contentment from the elder was thanks enough for her.

"So, tell me. What really brought you to my doorstep?" Miss Mabel asked wryly.

"A bible."

"You can get it downloaded these days."

"I want a real one. One with actual fragile pages that fingerprints leave marks on."

The two women stared at each other for a long moment as River kept up the gentle momentum. There was a long wait as Miss Mabel finally turned away to look at her front yard.

"My grandfather was the minister of the local church before a lightning storm destroyed it and him. Many hymn books were lost during that time. Even that big old bible that was passed down from generation to generation of ministers was lost."

A lone tear slowly traveled down the soft face of the elderly woman. River only waited patiently for what she would say next.

"But there is one that's up in the attic with his things. It's the one mama says he reads at home to her and her siblings."

Sensing her reluctance, River took Miss Mabel's hand and gently cradled it.

"In a few weeks, a preacher man is coming back from Lanren. He lost his bible in an attack on his town. It belong to a man he met before he began his priesthood. I want to give him another." She confessed with a sad smile.

After that, they said nothing more on the subject.

For the next few days, she and the boys spent time helping out the house and exploring the small town. Miss Mabel taught them how to make cookies the hold fashion way and River learned a few new recipes to her collection. They even helped out in decorating the house for Christmas and when it was time to leave to return to the Academy so Sulu and Chekov could make the shuttle to their families, they were slow with their farewells.

However, as River drove away, inside her bag was a package wrapped in ancient newspaper about the size of a small book between her sweater and jeans.

XXX

Christmas was a holiday that made little sense to Vulcans but for Sarak and Spock, they had little choice in the matter.

The idea that they must decorate their Earth dwelling with poisonous plant life, edible fruit and kernels of popcorn, ribbons, and a decorated tree was highly irrational. That they must hang stockings over a fireplace that was currently containing a burning fire when they perfectly adequate heating appeared to be a waste of resources.

However for the two females who were currently giggling over their cups of eggnog, they endure with as much strength as possible.

Especially Spock.

Sarak had only raised his eyebrows in minute surprise when two days ago Cadet Nyota Uhura appeared the door with a small carryon bag. Spock was not amused when he learned that River had invited Cadet Uhura over without consulting him. However his mother was perfectly content to have another female for company.

Except Cadet Uhura was not in the company of his mother at the moment.

Instead she was currently discussing with his father about certain dialects of two forms of Vulcan. And River and his mother were having a conversation between themselves with glances between himself and Cadet Uhura.

Feeling the need to prevent any more misunderstanding, Spock walked over to his best friend and mother.

" – but he won't admit it." He heard River mutter.

"Let him take his time. It took a long time before his father even asked me out on a date. Although you would never get him to admit that it was a date." His mother replied with glee.

"Still I don't want him to waste time. Too many people I like are wasting time." His friend grumbled before taking a long sip of her beverage.

"Mother, River, I believe discussing my relationship with Cadet Uhura should not be entertaining to you." Spock stated as he was in talking distance. River only rolled her eyes and his mother smiled at him sweetly.

"Sorry, dear. You're right. Cadet Uhura is a lovely young lady. And she's obvious intelligent if she can keep a conversation with your father so well." She added as she nodded her head at the two.

"She is an ambitious cadet and I am proud to be part of her education. I hope in the next two years she could be ready to start in off world training sessions." He replied and ignored the way River was smirking at him.

She took his hand and presented thoughts of him kissing Cadet Uhura under the mistletoe. He only looked down at her with a bit of contempt and smugly thought of how his father refused to have it hanging under any of their doorways.

A sulky thought was her reply.

"You know, I think we should have a girls' day of shopping. It's been ages since I went to a spa." Amanda mused as her thoughts went back to the old days of being a young adult with friends.

River instantly took to the idea with relish.

"Yes! And we can bring Uhura with us. She's been in the city more so she should know the best places."

"And we should go see a movie! A really romantic one! Sarak and Spock never did like my taste in movies."

"Mother, you taste in movies are simply highly uncomfortable and unrealistic." Spock corrected.

"Either way, you both aren't happy with them. We'll both go our separate ways. I'm sure you and your father will enjoy a day together."

Spock had a few doubts on that suggestion. Not that they were on negative terms, however there was little to discuss about his employment and he had already heard news of home and the current projects in the Science Academy. His father had given a hint that there was possibility that a spot could be open for him if he choose to stop his stubbornness in Starfleet, however Spock had refused to budge.

"If you say so mother. I'm sure Cadet Uhura will be gracious with your invitation." He said kindly. However as he looked at River, he thought to her not to harass Cadet Uhura with any of her teasing and to prevent his mother from doing anything that will make the cadet uncomfortable.

River only stuck her tongue out at him.

XXX

Christmas night was almost dead to the world with a few bars open up to the lonely.

Wash felt a bit sad that he was spending Christmas alone even though it was a holiday that he did not celebrate too often before.

River had invited him to Spock's family's place for Christmas but he had refused. It may be important for him to meet Spock's family, but he felt it should be on a normal day instead of a holiday. Besides, he still did not feel comfortable enough to intrude on Spock's family. Maybe next year he'll join in.

Instead, he just wanted to be alone in the chilly dark night and looking up at the stars. After all, maybe next year Zoe will be by his side for Christmas. Rubbing his mouth, his fingers felt the short bristle of facial hair and he grinned at the feeling.

If he was going to suffer without his Zoe, he was going to have one luxury all to himself – growing a mustache!

River had read his mind when she saw his face and only warned him to shave it off before Zoe saw him again.

So lost in his thoughts, Wash did not pay attention to the world around him and soon found himself staring up at the night sky with his back on the cold ground.

"What the gorram - ?" He began before a hand pop in his vision and Wash instinctively took and pulled himself up.

"You okay, buddy?"

He brush the dirt off of his pants and looked up at the young man appeared to be the reason for his mishap.

The young man was taller than him by a few inches, well built, wearing a worn out leather jacket and jeans. Wash could tell that he was a good looking fellow but with it being so dark, he was unable to describe the eye or hair color. Wash could say that he was like Baxter only his charm was genuine while Baxter – well let's not get into that.

"Yeah, my fault wasn't really looking ahead. Sorry about that." Wash replied.

"Somehow I think I'll forgive you for it." The young man replied wryly. "Heading home from a Christmas party?"

"Nah. No point with family gone. Besides, Christmas really isn't my thing. Now New Years is a whole other idea."

The young man grinned at that.

"I guess we share the same view on those holidays."

Wash looked at the young man for a moment. He had just realized that it was odd to see someone this young alone on a holiday night.

"So did you lose the coin toss and had to get the beer?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. The bitter chuckle gave him his answer.

"Nope. Roommate is stuck on night shift and I didn't feel like crashing on some girl's place."

Pity stuck Wash as he saw that the young man did not want to be alone on this night. His rational side was screaming at him to just keep it short and walk away. His softer side (which sounded too much like Kaylee) was urging him to invite the man up for a night.

As he was trying to decide on what to do, the young man stuck his hand out again.

"Name's Jim Kirk."

With those three words, Wash's decision was made.

"Call me Wash." He answered and shook the hand. It was a good handshake – dry, firm, and strong. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Nothing too incriminating I hope." Kirk said with a twinkle in his eye. Wash laughed at that.

"Not too much although Uhura was a little bit prissy at you for beating her in some club thing of yours. Oh and River said something about you being a genius or something."

"You know Commander Tam?"

It was weird for Wash to hear River being called 'Commander Tam.' It was like calling Mal a purple belly Alliance loving whore. Or seeing Mal celebrate Unification Day. Or see Jayne read a book.

"Yeah. I helped her out with something and she got me a place in Starfleet. Want to come with me and share a pot of noodles? I think I can manage to cook that without killing myself. Unless you count chopping up the veggies – I may end up decapitating a few fingers from that."

Kirk laughed at him and nodded.

"It sounds better than just getting drunk off my ass for now."

"Hey! Don't count that out just yet! We'll get to that part when we're full."Wash protested with a grin.

As he began to lead the way, Wash thought that while this Christmas was not the best of holidays for him, having a kindred soul with him made it just a bit better. Besides he had a feeling that Kirk was going to be crashing on his couch and it would be fun to see just what would happen when River comes in the morning to cook breakfast.

Does mistletoe still work after Christmas?

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Finally! I finished off this chapter!

I hoped that you all were happy with like I was. Ironically, I was stuck at the part about the John Archer Dome. It made me feel horrible!

How did you guys like the part with the vision that River got? Originally George Kirk wasn't in it, but as I was writing it, it felt like something I should put in. I think it made it better.

Lately I've been reading a manga called Bakuman. The artist who does the art is the same one for Hikaru no Go. It's about two friends who become mangaka for Jump. Also there is this plot about one of the guys working hard to get an anime from their manga so he could marry the girl he loves and have her do the voice over for the anime. It's really good and it sort of inspires me to keep on writing!

As for the future of this fic – I'm never going to let it die! The long updates are because I refuse to finish a chapter unless it is more than 9000 words. I've been toying with the idea of just dumping the Book with the other person but I also feel that I should dedicate at least one chapter to Book on his own.

Also I have a question for you all – once all the players are in, should I do a time skip? If I do, I'll do one chapter which will have bits of scenes for that time period. I'm thinking that the new ship will be done a year before the Enterprise has her maiden voyage.

Anyway, that's in the future. Once I get through the next few chapters, I'll figure it out.

Also note that if any of you want to know the progress of the next chapter, check out my profile. I'll update it with news and the tiniest of spoilers to let you know. I'll leave the news for this chapter for you all to see what I mean – that is until I start on the next one.

Please give me love and reviews! And enjoy this little outtake!

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Scotty knew that life was hard for a single hard working Scottish man such as himself. Being an eager genius engineer was difficult when dealing with the bigots whom refuse to think outside of the box.

Which is why he had gotten dead drunk at home when some of his old mates.

However he had forgotten (and forgiven) that being drunk with his old mates was the equivalent of being brained washed and controlled by mischievous ten-year-olds.

It appears that singing a dirty limerick and wearing only a kilt while running from the coppers with a paper bag over his head was not only dangerous but bad for his health. His mates were also in the cahoots with him except they were mostly naked with only wearing their shirts or boxers – not both.

Which is why on December 26, he was lying on the floor of a cell with a hangover. He had tried to call his mum but end up an earful of screaming that he was unsure of. She may have called him a irresponsible fool or that he now owned a box of Tribbles with feet.

Did Tribbles have feet?

"Oye! Scott! You got a phone call!"

Scotty blinked as he slowly stood up and walked to the bars of his cell. Who in the name of God could be possibly calling him? Taking the small communicator, he placed it to his ear.

"Allo?" he rasped.

"Had a nice night, Scotty?" an amused female voice asked.

At that instant, Scotty stood up straight.

"Commander Tam! How did you- ?" he began to ask.

"Your mother told me. I transfer the money for your bond and that of your friends. I don't need an engineer stuck in jail because his mother refused to pay the bond." Commander Tam teased. Then her voice got serious. "We got the funds so I can pay you to do the work and get you the best of supplies.

"Ah can't believe it! We got the funds? When do ya need me?" he asked excitedly as he winced at his volume.

"After New Years. We'll celebrate and then talk shop and Scotty?"

"Yes, Commander?"

"Don't get drunk without me."

"Aye, Commander!"

It was a pity that just a few hours after Scotty and his mates were released – they got roaring drunk but were lucky enough to not get caught by the cops.

New Years however was another story.

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I just had to put Scotty in here somewhere. I miss the dude!


	21. River's Musings 4

Jayne, the man they call Jayne.

He'd rather shoot you first  
Unless you're a whore  
He'll be happy to change sides  
If you offer is a great bribe  
Although we can't explain  
But we still love him so  
He's a man ape to Simon  
The man we call Jayne

Now Jayne isn't what we call a hero  
He's more of an old bad soul  
I stabbed him with knife when I was insane  
And in turn he tried to cash me in  
But it turns out that he was back stabbed  
And he had to help us escape  
So let that be lesson for Jayne  
Not to turn on your crew  
Or else worry that I will kill with my brain

He's rather watch you fight  
Instead of watching your back  
He has a gun call Vera  
But even she can't pierce through hull  
Even though he ain't smart  
And can't shut his mouth  
He's a man ape to Simon  
The man we call Jayne

Now here is what separates Jayne  
From Canton's ballad for him  
The man we call Jayne  
What know about him is that  
He sends most of share to Ma  
He may be atrocious with his manner  
He may never learn how to woo a girl  
Even it's a girl's name  
We still call out to Jayne  
And he lets those bullets fly

He'd rather shoot you first  
Unless you're a whore  
He'll be happy to change sides  
If you offer is a great bribe  
Although we can't explain  
But we still love him so  
He's a man ape to Simon  
The man we call Jayne!


End file.
